NASA’s SHINE Program: Space Health Impacts for the NASA Experience

Learn about the effects of the space radiation environment and NASA’s Human Research Program approach to countermeasures

Space Health Impacts for the NASA Experience (SHINE) is a virtual NASA program sponsored by the Human Research Program (HRP). The overall mission of HRP is to enable human space exploration by reducing the risks to human health and performance through a focused program of basic, applied, and operational research. HRP investigates and mitigates the highest risks to astronaut health and performance attributed to five space flight hazards, space radiation, isolation and confinement, distance from earth, gravity fields, and hostile/closed environments. Facilitating HRP’s mission are five unique elements: Space Radiation (SR), Human Health Countermeasures (HHC), Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC), Human Factors and Behavioral Performance (HFBP), and Research Operations and Integration (ROI).

SHINE Space Radiation Didactic Curriculum (Virtual)

This program is sponsored through the Space Radiation Element whose overall goal is to characterize and facilitate the management of the human health outcomes associated with space radiation exposure to protect astronaut health and well-being and enable human spaceflight. The annual course targets graduate students, post-docs, senior research scientists, and principal investigators (PIs), and introduces them to the relevant scientific elements of the HRP. The SHINE Space Radiation Didactic Curriculum aims to educate participants not only in the scientific aspects of space radiation but also agency risk management strategies.

The 6-month course convenes virtually for several hours each week from February to August for formal didactic lectures covering essential learning material along with more informal interactive coffee hours that facilitate networking with space radiation thought leaders. 

SHINE Space Radiation Didactic Curriculum Program Goals

• Provide an overview of the fundamental scientific concepts to understand the space radiation environment and how it impacts human health
• Introduce participants to NASA experts to broaden scientific understanding and promote collaboration and networking opportunities
• Educate participants on the HRP grant application process and potential funding opportunities
• Familiarize participants with internal NASA processes that impact radiation risk management and research
• Note:  While preparing participants for space radiation research is a goal of this course, there   is   no   guarantee   of   funding   from   future   NASA   Research Announcements (NRAs) and   no   special   preference   will   be   given   to   course participants when applying to future or current NRAs.

SHINE Space Radiation Practicum

This course includes a 5-day experience in the Fall of 2024 at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL), NASA’s premier space radiation analog facility in Brookhaven, New York. NSRL and NASA SRE personnel will conduct demonstrations that cover essential, practical biological and physical aspects of conducting accelerator experiments relevant to human research. These demonstrations will illustrate state-of-the-art concepts and methods in the NASA SRE approach to space radiation risk management. Selected applicants will participate in the analysis of experimental data and gain both hands-on and theoretical experience in biological experiments using the NSRL facility. Prior to the on-site component, participants will be provided virtual lectures that cover pertinent scientific aspects of space radiation and NSRL experimental planning.

SHINE Space Radiation Practicum Objectives

• Provide an overview of the fundamental scientific concepts to understand the space radiation environment.
• · Provide an overview of the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory analog facility capabilities for exposure to space radiation simulations.
• · Introduce strategies and good practices for accelerator experiment design and controls.
• · Introduce the unique aspects of conducting accelerator experiments with emphasis on practical methods.
• · Introduce techniques for detecting radiation effects in cells and tissues and simple software for modeling experiments.
• Introduce techniques for data analysis and presentation.
• · Provide an opportunity for participants to network with Space Radiation Element and NSRL personnel.

Apply for SHINE

Eligibility

• Open to participants from commercial entities, international organizations, academia, NASA Centers, and other government agencies who meet the following requirements:
  • Advanced degree (M.D., Ph.D., or equivalent), predoctoral students
  • Graduate students and postdoctoral scholar applications must include 2 letters of reference including a letter from their current supervisor.
• U.S. citizenship is not required for application.

Dates and Deadlines

• The deadline for the 2024 SHINE virtual and practicum courses has passed.
• Applications for the SHINE Training Program – Virtual Space Radiation Didactic Curriculum will be announced in August 2024.
• Applications for the SHINE Training Program – Space Radiation Practicum will be announced in August 2024.
• Sign up for NSPIRES announcements to receive notification when applications open.

FAQs

Q: Is there a fee to attend the course?

A: Both the SHINE Space Radiation Didactic Curriculum (Virtual) program and the SHINE Space Radiation Practicum are free of charge

Q: Will funding be available?

A: NASA will provide limited funding to participants selected for the SHINE Space Radiation Practicum for travel related expenses.

Q: Is SHINE open to undergraduate students?

A: Currently, the SHINE course targets principal investigators, senior researchers, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students.

Q: How are participants selected?

A: The review and selection of applications submitted in response to this opportunity will be made by the SHINE organizing team in accordance with NASA policy and other considerations. Applicants will be notified by the SHINE organizing team of their acceptance.

Organizers

Sigrid Reinsch, Ph.D., NASA ARC

Sigrid Reinsch is the SHINE course director, the project scientist for NASA’s Biological Institutional Scientific Collection (NBISC), and a scientist in the Space Biosciences Division at NASA Ames Research Center. Reinsch’s recent research has focused on radiation resistance in invertebrates.

Janice Zawaski, Ph.D., NASA JSC

Janice Zawaski “JZ” is the element scientist for SRE at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Zawaski has more than 15 years of radiation research experience in two main areas: radiotherapy side-effects on the brain and bone marrow, gastrointestinal, and cardiac effects following acute whole-body radiation exposure. 

Gregory Nelson, Ph.D., NASA JSC

Gregory Nelson is the SRE central nervous system discipline lead with more than 30 years of radiation expertise. He joined Loma Linda in 1996 as radiobiology program director and oversaw proton irradiation services for NASA investigators. He joined SRE on a part-time basis in his current role in 2014.  

Sergio Santa Maria, Ph.D., NASA ARC

Sergio Santa Maria is a research scientist in the Space Biosciences Division at NASA Ames Research Center. Among other Space Biology projects, Sergio is a PI of two beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) missions, BioSentinel and LEIA. His research focuses on the biological response to space radiation and the development of new biosensor technologies.

Janapriya “JP” Saha, Ph.D., NASA JSC

Janapriya “JP” Saha is the degenerative disease discipline lead for SRE. He joined SRAG at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in July 2020. His research focuses on ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage signaling, repair, and carcinogenesis, with a strong emphasis on the characterization of space radiation-induced biological effects and charged particle radiotherapy.

Contact

For any questions about the SHINE program please send an email to

jsc-hrp-space-radiation-element@mail.nasa.gov

______

NASA’s Human Research Program, or HRP, pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and the International Space Station, HRP scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives HRP’s quest to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space travel expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.