South Carolina Space Grant Consortium REU ProgramSummer 2005Wofford College
Development of Dietary and Behavioral Countermeasures to Anorexia Associated with Space Adaptation Syndrome (SAS) and Long Term Space Travel (LTST) using Human Subjects and the Rat Anti-Orthostatic Tail Suspension Model (RATSM).
Student Application
Name:
College or University:
Academic Year: (Applicants should be rising Juniors or Seniors)
GPA: Science GPA:
Application Deadline: March 31st, 2005
Completed applications should be submitted via email to Dr. Stacey Hettes at: .
Transcripts and Letters of Recommendation should be mailed to:
Dr. Stacey Hettes
Wofford College Department of Biology
429 North Church Street
Spartanburg, SC 29303
Application Checklist:
Completed Application Form
2 copies of Academic Transcripts (Xerox copies are acceptable)
2 Letters of Recommendation
Project Overview: As NASA is making plans to return humans to the moon and then to Mars, it becomes more critical than ever to address the issues responsible for the loss of appetite and body mass experienced by space travelers. Conditions in space (microgravity, altered diurnal cycles, loss of appetite, etc.) clearly have a negative impact on the nutrient consumption and over all health of astronauts. The co-PIs for this REU will guide four undergraduates, selected on the basis of their enthusiasm for the research topic and their inclination toward a career in NASA-related research, in the design and completion of experiments. We will investigate factors that affect food intake in human subjects and in laboratory rats under conditions of simulated microgravity and orbit-like dark/light cycles. Our experiments, designed with the collaboration of the REU students and in consultation with the Advanced Food Technology (AFT) team at the Johnson Space Center, will focus on ways to manipulate the sensory qualities of food and the presentation order of various foods such that food intake is maximized. The ultimate goal of our research is to allow us to make recommendations to NASA's AFT team regarding modifications of mission menus that will promote food consumption as a countermeasure to the anorexia associated with space flight.
Statement of Research Experience and/or coursework and laboratory experience: Briefly describe what research experience and/or relevant course and labortory work you have pursued in the past that has prepared you for this intensive research project. Please limit your response to one page (minimum font size=10, minimum line spacing= 1.5)
Statement of Research Interests: Briefly describe your research interests and how you feel your interests match the types of experiments proposed for this project. For more information regarding this project please visit our website: http://webs.wofford.edu/davisgr/nasa/index.htm