Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington, DC       October 22, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1979)

Ron Gilmore
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
(Phone:  713/798-4712)

RELEASE:  96-214

TELEMEDICINE SERIES UNITES U.S. AND RUSSIAN MEDICAL SCHOOLS

     The first in a series of NASA-sponsored telemedicine 
education conferences began today  at 9 a.m. EDT, with a 
linkup between Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and 
Moscow State University.  

     Dr. Arnauld Nicogossian, Associate Administrator for 
Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications at NASA 
Headquarters, said, "It is NASA's hope that this telemedicine 
program will provide a valuable and ongoing series of 
international medical education presentations between Russian 
and American medical schools.  This is an important activity.  
It brings our two communities together and will help us 
promote joint research in space biology and medicine, both on 
the ground and in orbit aboard the International Space 
Station."  

     NASA began its telemedicine experience with the former 
Soviet Union in 1989 when it created the Spacebridge to 
Armenia and Ufa.  NASA used its telecommunications and 
telemedicine capabilities to help provide humanitarian 
assistance to the victims of the Armenian earthquake and the 
Ufa natural gas explosion.

     Nicogossian said, "In the years following Spacebridge, 
we came to recognize the value of the Internet for its global 
communications capabilities while maintaining and working 
with the telemedicine infrastructure we had created.  One of 
the greatest potential dividends of the telemedicine program 
is the great strides we expect to see in medical education 
both in the United States and abroad."

     The topic of today's program, "Recent Advancements in 
the Management of Heart Disease," included presentations on 
aneurysm surgery, coronary angioplasty, new cholesterol 
reducing drugs, cryopreservation of organs and molecular 
genetics of cardiovascular disease.

                       -end-