U of L researcher helping to make life in space less stressful

By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on January 21, 2025.

A professor from the University of Lethbridge is taking research to new heights as she is part of a global group of researchers who are studying how space travel impacts stress and how they can use their findings to improve space travel and quality of life here on earth.
Gerlinde Metz, professor of neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge says the group has been working with NASA for the last decade to collect samples from 51 astronauts before and after they returned from the International Space Station (ISS).
Metz says space flight is one of the most stressful things one can endure, but she hopes the findings can help those here at home.
“They experience a number of severe stressors that go beyond what you’re experiencing here on earth and so the study of astronaut health teaches us a lot about health conditions on earth,” says Metz. “How we respond to stress, how we adapt to stress, how we can develop resilience and how aging mechanisms work on earth.”
This study is headed by Afshin Beheshti, a scientist from the University of Pittsburgh, but is a collaboration of many entities, including NASA, who provides funding for the American partners and, as of just a few days ago, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) joined in to fund the two Canadians on the project, both are from the University of Lethbridge something Metz is really excited to be a part of.
“It’s really quite a project, to reach for the starts, literally, it is very unique and very exciting for us to be a part of.”
Along with studying the stress of space travel to help manage stress on earth, Metz says space travel will become more common, as every country has some involvement in space programs.
“There’s space agencies around the world that aim to either send a person to space or contribute to building equipment and infrastructure that will support space exploration,” she says. “Of course, there are a lot of programs now that envision humans staying longer in space and going on longer missions.”
Metz has included her students in this project, many who are in nursing, medicine, psychology and even academia programs, but all of them are excited to work with NASA, even if it means the tedious task of studying molecules.
“It’s the students who sit down for a day and night and days on end to study and look at these changes that they see in the blood and urine (samples.)”
It’s not just working with astronauts that drive the students, it’s the hope one day they might be able to give back to their community.
“They all want to help improve our community, give back to the community and make a brighter future.”
Metz says as it’s not just one astronaut up in space, there’s a whole team of collaborative work that helps them defy gravity, the same is true for these students, no matter the field of work they choose.
“It’s not someone’s own ideas, its putting great minds together to come up with solutions for a healthier future.”

2
-1