Project Grant 2028635

This $400,000 Project Grant, awarded November 1, 2025, through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), funds research to elucidate integrin mechanotransduction mechanisms in microgravity environments. Emory University's Office of Sponsored Programs will develop and deploy molecular tension fluorescence microscopy probes based on DNA hairpins and duplexes to quantify integrin forces aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The research addresses how cells...

The National Science Foundation awarded a $399,685 project grant to the University of California Irvine under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to develop innovative cartilage tissue engineering strategies utilizing the microgravity environment of the International Space Station. The objectives of the three-year award beginning September 1, 2022 include employing microgravity conditions to enhance key processes in earth-based cartilage tissue engineering such as redifferentiation of expanded...

This $382,124 federal Project Grant award, made by the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), aims to advance tissue engineering and in-space cell technologies for regenerative medicine applications. The award will fund a collaborative effort between Micro-Grx, Inc., the University of Florida, Ronawk, and Redwire to develop three-dimensional "bio-block" tissue models that mimic the vascularization of heart and skin cells. These bio-block organoids will be used...

This federal Project Grant award, funded by the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), supports research to grow three-dimensional cancer-myeloid organoids on the International Space Station (ISS) in order to better mimic brain tumor formation and study interactions between cancer and immune cells. The $400,000 award, with a project period from September 2024 to August 2027, will first generate "flight-ready" organoid seeds from various cancer and immune...

This $400,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), under CFDA 47.041 Engineering program, will fund The Johns Hopkins University to develop engineered heart tissue chips for testing nanoparticle-based countermeasures against spaceflight-induced heart disease. The research aims to investigate whether nanoparticles designed to scavenge reactive oxygen species can prevent mitochondrial...

This $449,582 National Science Foundation project grant funds research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2025 under the NSF Engineering program (CFDA 47.041). The research aims to understand the effects of microgravity on wound healing processes by leveraging a sensor-integrated 3D tissue culture model. Specifically, the project will explore dynamic changes in gene and protein expression, structural changes in capillary network formation...

This $273,968 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program supports the development of the "Space Biobank" by Rhodium Scientific LLC. This initiative aims to establish the first repository for microbial species optimized for the low-Earth orbit environment, enabling broader community engagement in space-based biotechnology research and development. The award, provided on March...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Project Grant, CFDA 47.041, provides $452,847 to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) for research on protein behavior in microgravity environments. The funding will enable RPI to develop predictive models for how protein solutions flow and undergo structural changes in the absence of solid surfaces, to further fundamental science and industrial applications like pharmaceutical...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems awarded a $399,146 Project Grant to the Regents of the University of Michigan under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to develop a bioreactor system for conducting research on the effects of microgravity and aging on neuromuscular function. The objectives are to evaluate force generation and reactive oxygen species production in tissue-engineered human nerve-muscle constructs,...

Federal Grant Award Summary The National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) awarded $399,276 to the University of Puerto Rico Research and Development Center Division on December 1, 2025, for a three-year project concluding November 30, 2028. This project grant supports research on the biomanufacturing of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) secretomes for tissue regeneration, investigating how mechanical forces from substrate rigidity and microgravity affect MSC function and...