Space Biomedical Research in JAXA

Abstract

This paper introduces the activity of the newly launched JAXA Space Biomedical Research Office, including ongoing space clinical medicine research. It also explains the new office's goals, policy, criteria for prioritizing research themes, and process for conducting research, as well as some topics of space biomedical research.

Rare diseases and space health: optimizing synergies from scientific questions to care

“…Evidence reviewed by NASA through the Human Research Program (HRP) has categorized the risks of space exploration missions into the categories of Human Factors and Behavioral Health Performance, Space Radiation, Exercise and Extravehicular Activity, and Exploration Medical Capabilities 18 . Similar categories for space biomedical research are adopted by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the European Space Agency (ESA) to guide research topics [19][20][21] .…”

“…Moreover, as for any disease and treatment, genotypic and demographic variability within rare diseases further reducing the population that can be targeted with a given therapy, as patients may have vastly different responses to treatments 40 . Of the articles we reviewed, the median [interquartile range] study sample size for astronaut health was 13 [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] participants while the median rare disease sample size was 1 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Despite the low incidence rate of rare diseases, cross-national collaboration and extensive database information can allow rare disease researchers to obtain larger sample sizes.…”