NASA visits UCL School of Pharmacy to discuss 3D printing medicines for space missions

On 19 July, the Basit Research Group and FABRX Ltd. had the honour of hosting NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer, Dr J.D. Polk, and NASA’s Health and Medical Technical Authority Manager, Dr Neal Zapp, Ph.D., at the School of Pharmacy. 

During their visit, NASA’s representatives were given a tour of the Basit Research labs and introduced to the state-of-the-art pharmaceutical 3D printers. The discussions centered around the challenges astronauts face in needing a wide range of medications for potential medical emergencies, given the constraints of spacecraft in terms of mass and size. 3D printing was highlighted as a promising solution to create personalised, space-efficient, and portable medications for long-duration spaceflights. The dialogue explored potential future collaborations in pharmaceutical 3D printing for space applications, as this technology is poised to revolutionise medicine manufacturing in space with the upcoming missions to the Moon and Mars.

The visit concluded with an inspirational talk from Dr Polk himself, who provided an in-depth look into NASA's pioneering work in space medicine and the upcoming manned missions to the Moon and Mars. His presentation emphasised the critical importance of advancing medical technologies to support astronauts and future space travellers, highlighting the significant contributions of cutting-edge innovations from the UCL School of Pharmacy.

• NASA
• Dr JD Polk NASA profile  
• Basit Research Group
• Fabrx
• Prof Abdul Basit (a.basit@ucl.ac.uk)
• Dr Alvaro Goyanes (a.goyanes@fabrx.co.uk) 
• https://twitter.com/basitresearch