HMH Center for Discovery and Innovation and Axiom Space To Conduct Disease Research

Updated:
November 9, 2023
Published:
February 23, 2023

What You Need To Know

  • The Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) and Axiom Space, a Houston-based company currently building the world’s first commercial space station, will work together to study the influence of microgravity on the body.
  • The initial collaboration may explore the impact ofmicrogravity on the human immune system and how that affects the human body as it responds to space travel.

'Could Benefit Virtually All of Us on Earth'

The partnership will help gain a better understanding of human health and disease on Earth and ensure safe space travel. A growing literature has found that humans and other Earth-evolved organisms age and respond to stimuli differently when removed from the natural atmosphere of the Earth and its gravitational pull. Exploring the science underlying these changes could lead to insights for humans in space in future and for healthcare here on Earth. “This partnership is a critical deal which could benefit virtually all of us back on Earth,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, the chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. “The sky isn’t the limit when it comes to the expertise of our scientists.” “Space travel in microgravity places stress on the body,” added David Perlin, Ph.D., chief scientific officer and executive vice president of the CDI. “By learning about factors that keep space travel safe, we can apply the knowledge to improve the terrestrial health of humans with a wide variety of conditions and diseases.” Axiom Space reached a critical milestone for its objective last year, completing the first all-private astronaut mission to the ISS. On April 25, 2022, the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew and the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down off the coast of Florida. The Ax-1 crew’s arrival back to Earth officially concluded the first mission of its kind, thereby successfully demonstrating Axiom Space’s ability to integrate with the ISS and conduct meaningful research outside the planet’s atmosphere.