KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The International Space Station (ISS) Research and Development Conference today announced that Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent for CNN, will be a keynote speaker at its 8^th annual meeting held at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Georgia, July 29 to August 1, 2019. The ISS Research and Development Conference was created to connect U.S. government agencies, commercial enterprises, and academic communities in order to foster new innovations, breakthroughs, and discoveries onboard humankind’s unique orbiting laboratory. This event is held in coordination with the ISS National Lab, the American Astronautical Society (AAS), and NASA.

Dr. Gupta is the multiple Emmy® award winning chief medical correspondent for CNN. Dr. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon, plays an integral role in CNN’s reporting on health and medical news for all of CNN’s shows domestically and internationally and regularly contributes to CNN.com. His medical training and public health policy experience distinguishes his reporting from war zones and natural disasters, as well as on a range of medical and scientific topics, including the recent Ebola outbreak, brain injury, disaster recovery, health care reform, fitness, military medicine, and HIV/AIDS. In 2016, Dr. Gupta joined the ISS Research and Development Conference, where he interviewed former NASA astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly after the One-Year Mission onboard the ISS to discuss research on the changes that occur in the human body over time in a microgravity environment.

In his 2019 session, Dr. Gupta plans to explore regenerative medicine onboard the ISS, talking with several speakers who are pushing the boundaries of stem cell, tissue chip, and 3D tissue modeling research in microgravity. In recent years, the ISS National Lab has made a profound push toward utilizing the space station to advance research in the area of regenerative medicine. The ISS National Lab has funded multiple stem cell, tissue chip, and biomedical engineering investigations, while partnering with entities like the National Institutes of Health (through its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences) and the National Science Foundation, which are collectively funding more than $20 million in research in these fields.

“The ISS Research and Development Conference plays a pivotal role in accelerating space station research and technology development and bringing together new entrants in the space community,” said Joseph Vockley, Ph.D., ISS National Lab president and chief executive officer. “We are honored to have Dr. Gupta return to the conference to lead an insightful dialogue on the future of regenerative medicine in space.”

Registration for the 2019 conference is now open. To learn more, including how to register, please visit: http://www.issconference.org/.

About the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory: 

In 2005, Congress designated the U.S. portion of the ISS as the nation’s newest national laboratory to optimize its use for improving quality of life on Earth, promoting collaboration among diverse users, and advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This unique laboratory environment is available for use by non-NASA U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The ISS National Lab manages access to the permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space.

About AAS:

The American Astronautical Society is America’s premier network of space professionals, technical and non-technical, dedicated to advancing all space activities. The Society, founded in 1954, is committed to strengthening the nation’s space programs, inspiring the next generation of space professionals, and expanding cooperation with international space organizations.

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SOURCE International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory