Grants and Contributions

Canada has committed efforts to push humanity further into the solar system beyond the International Space Station to more distant destinations like the Moon and Mars. However, travelling with the astronauts on these longer-duration missions are risks for muscle loss and weakness, bone fragility and cognitive decline, all of which will compromise astronaut well-being and the mission at hand. This research seeks to determine whether stopping an enzyme called glycogen synthase kinase 3 can slow the functional decline of muscles, bone, and brain not only in space but also here on Earth, providing novel therapeutic strategies for human health.

Bone loss in astronauts is a major challenge for long-duration space exploration. In weightlessness, muscles are used less often, thus providing less stimulation of bone. In addition, astronauts often have disrupted circadian rhythms. It is known that night and rotating shift workers display an increased incidence of bone fractures. Molecular mechanisms underlying microgravity-induced bone loss are still unclear. This research aims to determine how circadian rhythms contribute to mechanical unloading-related bone loss using mouse models. Understanding the links between circadian rhythms, microgravity and bone adaptation will help to prevent bone loss in long-duration human space flights.

Reducing the risks to human health is critical for long-duration space flight. Space radiation and micro-gravity can negatively impact health, yet the combined effects of these factors remain unclear. Our project seeks to understand how the combined effects radiation and microgravity interact and damage healthy tissue such as muscles, bones, eyes, and brains using a model that simulates space flight. We will then determine if a dietary supplement can counteract these effects and protect tissues. This study will provide us with a clear understanding of how the body is affected by space travel and begin exploring meaningful countermeasures.

Astronauts lose substantial amounts of bone during space missions. Abnormalities in the way the body handles phosphate
has been linked to bone loss on Earth. Astronauts on the International Space Station consume high levels of phosphate, but
it is unknown whether this contributes to bone loss during space travel. In this study, the objective is to determine whether
phosphate metabolism is altered and whether dietary phosphate contributes to bone loss in microgravity. The results of
this study could inform optimal nutrient contents of astronaut diets and may have implications for people on Earth who are
at risk for bone loss.

This project aims to translate a hibernation-related mechanism of muscle atrophy resistance to astronauts. The microgravity conditions of space invariably lead to profound loss of skeletal and cardiac muscle mass and performance, a phenomenon called spaceflight-induced disuse atrophy. However, hibernating mammals are remarkably resistant to muscle atrophy, and the team has recently identified a gut microbiome-based process that facilitates this resistance by building muscle protein. Here, the team uses proteomics techniques to determine which muscle proteins this process helps build and whether they will counter spaceflight-induced atrophy. The ultimate goal is to create a hibernation-like probiotic to facilitate atrophy resistance in astronauts.

Spaceflight is harsh: astronauts are exposed to radiation and microgravity, isolated and confined for weeks and months. Eventually, their cognition, sensation, movement, and coordination changes, affecting their performance. We will study brain images from previous astronauts to determine how their brain health was affected by the spaceflight using methods that the research team developed to track the effect of aging. An increased understanding of the impact of space travel will allow to better evaluate the effect of countermeasures, which could be applied here on Earth to different clinical population, including patients affected by brain degeneration such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a health concern for human on Earth and for astronauts involved in space flight due to decrease in muscle size and strength which increases fatigability and frailty. The success of long-term space flight is partly limited by the health concerns and risks to the astronauts involved in these missions. The focus of this project is to: i) better understand how muscle atrophy occurs; and ii) eventually design novel therapeutic interventions to counteract the devastating impact of atrophy on Earth and in space.

This project provides an opportunity for young, talented Canadians to engage in research by using previously collected information. The research team will answer new questions investigating the link between blood vessel function and brain health. The project is designed to determine how well brain blood vessels soften the pulses coming from the heart. The team will also test whether an astronaut s exercise routine protects their brain. The results will increase understanding of the link between blood vessel health and cognition in older adults on Earth, and help to protect astronauts during future missions, which will extend for longer durations and deeper into space.

Astronauts lose bone mass rapidly while in space. Some bone may recover after returning to Earth, but bone structure may be permanently changed. The ends of long bones are made of porous bone connected by thin rods and plates called trabeculae. When bone is lost, trabeculae thin and separate from one another, reducing the strength of the bone. With advances in high-resolution bone imaging, we can now measure bone on a scale finer than a human hair and assess changes in individual trabeculae. This study will discover how individual trabeculae change in response to microgravity and whether these structures recover after returning to Earth.

Galaxy Surveys are a key resource for observational cosmology, with the potential to provide the answers to many fundamental questions in modern physics. The ESA-led Euclid mission, scheduled for launch early in 2023, will provide a survey an order of magnitude larger than current galaxy surveys and with far lower levels of systematic problems thanks to its space-based observations. This grant is designed to exploit key leadership positions held by the PI within Euclid, to help to measure the cosmological expansion rate between redshifts 0.9 and 1.9, testing Dark Energy. Complementary structure growth measurements will test Einstein’s theory of Gravity on the largest scales possible. The scale-dependence of the clustering signal will be used to measure the masses of neutrinos through their early Universe effects, and to set constraints on the evolution of galaxies and structure over cosmological time-scales. This grant will enable a group of early-career researchers to work at the heart of the Euclid Consortium. Furthermore, it will train these scientists with the key skills required for a number of future career directions.