Dr. Marcelo Vazquez, assistant scientist and NASA liaison scientist in the medical department of Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been named associate 
team leader for the Radiation Effects Team of the National Space Biomedical Research
Institute (NSBRI).As associate team leader, Vazquez will help manage scientists working on NSBRI radiation projects. The team's research focuses on understanding the effects of radiation expected during long-duration space travel. Research findings will impact radiation treatments on Earth. The NSBRI, a consortium of 12 research institutions, focuses on research to pave the way for human exploration of space. Besides radiation exposure, NSBRI projects address space health concerns such as bone loss, cardiovascular changes, muscle weakening, sleep disturbances, immunology and infection, balance and orientation, nutrition, fitness and rehabilitation, neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors, and remote-treatment technologies. Vazquez received his medical degree and doctorate in neurobiology and radiobiology from the National University of La Plata in Argentina. He completed his medical residency in radiation therapy at National University and later did post-doctoral work in neurotoxicology at Uppsala University in Sweden. Before becoming a Brookhaven scientist, he worked at Columbia University developing in vitro models to study the effects of space radiation on neural cells. Established in 1997 through a NASA competition, the NSBRI consortium includes Baylor College of Medicine, Brookhaven, Harvard Medical School, The Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Rice University, Texas A&M University, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Health System and University of Washington. |