Houston space health nonprofit launches first experiments onboard Blue Origin mission

all aboard

Houston-based health tech organization had experiments on Blue Origin's last mission. Photo courtesy of Blue Origin

Houston's Translational Research Institute for Space Health, or TRISH, conducted cutting-edge research onboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket that launched Friday, November 22.

The NS-28 mission sent private astronauts on an 11-minute suborbital journey past the recognized boundary of space known as the Kármán line, according to Blue Origin's website. While on board, astronauts wore a medical-grade BioButton device, known as a BioIntelliSense, that monitored vital signs and biometric readings.

The findings will add to TRISH's Enhancing eXploration Platforms and ANalog Definition, or EXPAND, program and were the first data sets captured from a suborbital flight.

“This initiative enables TRISH to further our research in space medicine by collecting valuable human health data,” Jimmy Wu, TRISH deputy director and chief engineer and assistant professor at Baylor, said in a statement. “New data from suborbital flights builds our understanding of how the human body responds to spaceflight. This holistic view is key in keeping humans healthy and safe in space.”

The experiments were also TRISH's first on a Blue Origin mission.

TRISH, which is part of BCM’s Center for Space Medicine with partners Caltech and MIT, has launched experiments on numerous space missions to date, with each contributing to its EXPAND platform, which compiles research on human health while in space.

In January, TRISH launched six experiments onboard Houston-based Axiom Space's third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, known as Ax-3. Prior to that, it also sent experiments on board the Ax-2 in May 2023. The research considered topics ranging from changes in astronauts memory before and after space travel to sleep and motor skills.

TRISH also launched experiments onboard SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission this fall and on the Inspiration4 all-civilian mission to orbit in 2021.

TRISH published its findings from the Inspiration4 mission in the journal Nature this summer. The study showed that "short-duration missions do not pose a significant health risk" to humans onboard. Read more about the team's findings here.

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Houston Methodist has entered into an agreement with a medical device company. Photo via globenewswire.com

Houston hospital taps health tech company for remote monitoring and analytics partnership

hi, tech

A Houston health care system has announced a new partnership with a medical device company that specializes in continuous health monitoring and clinical intelligence.

Houston Methodist and Colorado-based BioIntelliSense announced a new collaboration to advance remote monitoring and analytics from in-hospital to at-home. BioIntelliSense’s technology includes its FDA-cleared BioSticker and medical grade BioButton. The two devices are wearable and, when paired with algorithmic-based data services, the technologies enable remote data capture and continuous monitoring of over 20 biometrics — up to 1,440 sets of vital sign measurements daily —for up to 30 days on a single device.

“This new strategic collaboration with BioIntelliSense exemplifies Houston Methodist’s continued commitment to advancing world-class expertise and greater efficiency to deliver the highest quality and most impactful care,” says Dr. Sarah Pletcher, vice president and executive medical director of strategic innovation at Houston Methodist, in a news release. “This collaboration keeps the patient at the center as we continue to maximize our leadership in healthcare innovation.”

The two entities executed Memorandum of Understanding that identifies several areas of strategic focus for improving patient care, increasing clinical workflow efficiencies, and reducing the burden on healthcare systems. BioIntelliSense and Houston Methodist will work together to develop a state-of-the-art virtual care control center at Houston Methodist.

“Data-driven remote patient monitoring that is simple, clinically accurate, and cost-effective, is the future of healthcare delivery,” says James Mault, MD, Founder and CEO of BioIntelliSense. “We are proud to work alongside our partners at Houston Methodist to pioneer a continuous care model that provides actionable data and clinical intelligence to enable our overburdened healthcare workforce take better care of patients in any care setting.”

According to the news release, the MOU further establishes the use of leading biosensor technology and the development of advanced algorithms, care models, and data analytics for monitoring and treating a range of complex conditions spanning heart and vascular, orthopedics, oncology, infectious diseases, transplants, and others.

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Pharma giant considers Houston for $1B manufacturing campus

in the works

Another pharmaceutical giant is considering Houston’s Generation Park for a manufacturing hub.

According to a recent filing with the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation (JETI) program, Bristol Myers Squibb Co. is considering the northeast Houston management district for a new $1 billion multi-modal pharmaceutical manufacturing campus.

If approved, the campus, known as Project Argonaut, could create 489 jobs in Texas by 2031. Jobs would include operations technicians, engineering roles, administrative and management roles, production specialists, maintenance support, and quality control/assurance. The company predicts annual average wages for these positions to be around $96,000, according to the filing.

The project currently includes the 600,000-square-foot facility, but according to the filing, Bristol Myers Squibb “envisions this site growing in scale and capability well beyond its opening configuration."

The Texas JETI program offers companies temporary school property tax limitations in exchange for major capital investment and job creation. E.R. Squibb & Sons LLC applied for a 10-year tax abatement agreement in the Sheldon Independent School District.

The agreement promises a $ 1 billion investment. Construction would begin in 2027 and wrap in 2029.

“The proposed project reflects [Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s] enduring commitment to bringing innovative medicines to patients and ensuring the long-term supply reliability they depend on,” the filing says. “The proposed project is purpose-built to support and manufacture medicines spanning multiple therapeutic areas and modalities, positioning the site as a long-term launch and commercial campus for decades to come. These medicines will provide therapies to the [Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s] patients located in markets both nationally and internationally.”

The Fortune 100 company is considering 16 other cities for the new manufacturing facility in the Central and Eastern markets in the U.S. According to the Houston Chronicle, Bristol Myers Squibb Co is still in the “evaluation process” for its potential manufacturing site.

Last fall, Eli Lilly and Co. selected Generation Park for its $6.5 billion manufacturing plant. More than 300 locations in the U.S. competed for the factory. Read more here.

Houston health tech co. lands NIH grant for AI cancer prediction tool

fresh funding

Houston-based CellChorus and Stanford Medicine were recently awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant for the company's AI platform to test how certain cancer patients will respond to therapies.

The funding comes from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. According to a filing, the grant totaled just under $400,000.

CellChorus, which spun out from the University of Houston’s Technology Bridge, has developed TIMING (Time-lapse Imaging Microscopy In Nanowell Grids), which analyzes the behavior of thousands of individual immune cells over time and can identify early indicators of treatment success or failure.

The company will work with Stanford's Dr. David Miklos and Dr. Saurabh Dahiya, who have built the Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cell Therapy Biobank. The biobank manages and stores biological samples from patients treated at their clinic and in clinical trials.

"Predicting which patients will achieve durable responses after CAR-T therapy remains one of the most important challenges in the field,” Miklos said in a news release. “We aim to uncover functional cellular signatures that can guide treatment decisions and improve patient outcomes.”

The project will specifically profile cells from patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (r/rLBCL). According to CellChorus, only about half of r/rLBCL patients who receive CAR-T therapy "achieve a durable, long-term remission." Others do not respond to therapy or experience relapse.

“The sooner we know whether a cancer therapy is working, the better. To maximize patient benefit, we need technology that can provide a robust and early prediction of response to therapy. The technology needs to be scalable, cost-efficient, and capable of rapid turnaround times,” Rebecca Berdeaux, chief scientific officer of CellChorus, added in the release. “We are excited to work with Drs. David Miklos and Saurabh Dahiya and their colleagues on this very important project.”

CellChorus has previously received SBIR grants from federal agencies, including a $2.5 million award in 2024 from its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and a $2.3 million SBIR Fast-Track award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences in 2023.

Houston museum showcases America's founding documents in rare exhibit

Experience History

As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, Houstonians have a chance to see rare documents from the founding of the nation. Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation, presented by the National Archives Foundation, will be on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science through Monday, May 25.

The collection includes a rare engraving of the original Declaration of Independence; official Oaths of Allegiance signed by George Washington, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton; a draft of the Bill of Rights; the Treaty of Paris, the documented that recognized America's independence from Great Britain; and the tally of votes approving the Constitution.

The National Archives specifically chose Houston as one of only eight cities in the country to host the exhibit as a means to help the documents reach a wider audience outside of the main hub of semiquincentennial events in New England and the Washington, D.C. area.

"One of the things we decided when we put the tour together because we wanted to be off the East Coast," said Patrick Madden, CEO of the National Archives Foundation, who was onsite for the exhibit's opening in Houston. "There's a lot of 250th celebration stuff happening in the original 13 colonies. How do we get it to major markets where larger numbers of people can see it? So in the case of Houston, obviously, [is a] major market in this part of the country, but also we've partnered with the museum twice before with National Archives exhibits, so we knew that they would be up to the task of handling the exhibit and the crowds."

The star of the collection is a rare engraving of the original Declaration of Independence. Secretary of State and future president John Quincy Adams commissioned 200 exact replicas of the document from engraver William J. Stone in 1823. Less than 50 now remain. Madden joyfully pointed out that there are errors in this document, a potent reminder that the men who forged a nation made mistakes.

"There's a couple of typos in it where they had to make corrections," said Madden. "So even the founders, you know, they're all human. That resonates because here these people are making this move against the most powerful nation in the world and putting their lives on the line for a country based on ideas."

Other impressive parts of the collection include official Oaths of Allegiance signed by George Washington, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton, as well as one of the drafts of the Bill of Rights. Many states would not ratify the Constitution until certain rights were included in the document, leading to Washington going on a national tour assuring state leaders enshrining protections was first on the list. The draft copy on display specifically shows the First Amendment in progress.

Houston is the fourth stop on the exhibition's tour, which will take the documents to Denver, Miami, Dearborn, and Seattle through the summer. Freedom Plane is just one part of a larger patriotic celebration at the HMNS, which includes a film series celebrating American science and culture and general Americana decoration throughout the main hall.

Admission to Freedom Plane is free to the public, but separate from general admission to the museum. Space is limited, and passes are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Non-members should expect long waits or the possibility that the day's passes are sold out. Only museum members can reserve passes for specific times. Flash photography is prohibited due to the fragile nature of the documents.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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