The health effects from space radiation are a critical safety concern for long-term space travel. Possible health risks include cancer, cataracts, acute radiation sickness, hereditary effects, and damage to the central nervous system. NASA has developed ground-based research facilities to simulate the space radiation environment, to analyze biological effects at the molecular and cellular level, and to develop advanced material concepts for improved radiation shielding for future exploration missions.

The NASA Space Radiation Summer School at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory will help provide a “pipeline” of researchers to tackle the challenges described above. Co-sponsored by NASA's Space Radiation Health Project, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and Universities Space Research Association, the three-week course will be held May 28 - June 20, 2008 at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) on Long Island, New York. (Note: Due to accelerator scheduling, the course dates could shift one week later.)

Up to 15 students will be selected for the course. Topics will include DNA damage and repair, genotoxicity measurements, cell cycle checkpoints and apoptosis, the bystander effect, genomic instability, neurodegeneration, tissue remodeling, and the relationships of these processes to carcinogenesis and late degenerative effects following exposure to space radiation, as well as the space radiation environment, physics and biochemistry of charged particle interaction with condensed matter, ionizing radiation dosimetry, and accelerator operations. Course faculty will consist of leading university and national laboratory biologists and physicists actively engaged in NASA space radiation research and BNL experts in heavy ion experimentation and methods. A course summary from the 2007 summer school plus additional information may be found at http://www.bnl.gov/medical/nasa/NSRSS/2007/NSRSS_2007.asp.

Eligibility
The course is designed for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty with an interest in radiation biology. Both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens may apply to the program. All selected students must satisfy Brookhaven National Laboratory and Department of Energy safety and security requirements in order to be admitted. Due to the intense nature of the course, applicants must demonstrate oral and written proficiency in the English language.

Expenses for travel within the U.S. and for room and board will be covered for those selected for the program, with the exception of U.S. civil servants or employees of some government agencies. Successful applicants from outside the U.S. must provide for their travel to and from one of the three New York/Long Island Airports (Kennedy, LaGuardia, or MacArthur/Islip).

Foreign nationals interested in applying should review the visa information and requirements for temporary entrance into the United States as outlined by the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection.

Click Here for Application Requirements and Instructions

 

The Deadline for application to the 2008 program is February 28, 2008.

Course sponsors are the NASA Space Radiation Project, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Loma Linda University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Universities Space Research Association. The course Scientific Director is Eleanor Blakely, Ph.D. from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the faculty is chaired by Cary Zeitlin, Ph.D. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Greg Nelson, Ph.D. (Loma Linda University) and Betsy Sutherland, Ph.D. (Brookhaven National Laboratory).

For additional information on the 2008 NASA Space Radiation Summer School and the sponsoring organizations, please visit the following sites:

NASA Space Radiation Project

Loma Linda University & Medical Center

NASA/BNL Space Radiation Biology Program

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

U.S. Department of Energy

Brookhaven National Laboratory

 

Last updated
December 20, 2007