Team:BrownStanfordPrinctn/Attributions
Attributions
We have many people and organizations to thank who helped make this project possible. From need-finding discussions with NASA scientists to collaborations with other iGEM teams, our team has benefited greatly from the knowledge and advice of others. Thank you to all who contributed to this project.
Fundraising Help and Advice
Brown University
Stanford University
Princeton University
Pitts Fund and the Office of Undergraduate Research, Princeton University
Rhode Island Space Grant Consortium, for many years of support for our team
California Space Grant Consortium, for the continued support of our team
New Jersey Space Grant Consortium, for becoming a supporter of our team
NASA Ames Research Center for hosting us
USRA (Universities Space Research Association) for unfailing logistical support
GenScript, for selecting our team as one of the five winners of the GenScript team grant
ATUM, for the donation of the chromogenic paintbox
IDT, for 20 kb of DNA synthesis
Difficult Technique Support
Kate Adamala ~ The team thanks Kate Adamala for her guidance and expertise in cell-free synthesis. Kate provided us with a basic understanding of how cell-free systems worked, as well as shared many critical papers and protocols on how to develop and execute a cell-free expression system. Furthermore, she traveled out to NASA for a week in order to walk us through how to make our own cell-free system, and was a constant resource in helping troubleshoot any problems that arose.
The Fordyce Lab ~ The team thanks Polly Fordyce, Kara Brower, and the entire Fordyce lab for their contributions and help with the microfluidics subproject. The microfluidics subproject would not have been possible without the resources and help from the Fordyce Lab. Kara Bower, a member of the Fordyce Lab, gave us countless hours of her time to go through our designs and help us create more modular devices. For fabrication, she led us through all of the steps to create our first device, giving us access to the clean room and all the materials necessary to make our microfluidic chips. When we could not use the clean room for our modified chip fabrication, Kara graciously fabricated the wafers used to create the PDMS chip. Further, the Fordyce Lab lent us materials so that we could finish fabrication in our own lab, as well as lending us a syringe pump for our device testing and letting us sit in on lab meetings.
NASA Ames Space Shop ~ The team thanks Alex Mazhari, Randall Ticknor, and the NASA Ames SpaceShop for training the team and providing the facilities to build microfluidics using high resolution stereolithography (Formlabs). Their expertise helped guide parts of the astropharmacy design from theory to prototype to functional module over a short few weeks.
Project Advisor Support
Lynn Rothschild ~ As our main advisor for the iGEM team, Lynn was an ever-constant presence throughout the project. We thank her for her continuous support of iGEM year after year, as well as for gathering all of us together for the summer to work on this project. She was instrumental in contacting many of the people we interviewed for advice and project direction, and she also made sure the project was well-funded and on track throughout the summer. Not to mention, Lynn came up for the idea of our astropharmacy project in the first place!
Tomasz Zajkowski ~ As one of our advisors on this project, Dr. Zajkowski was critical in training and troubleshooting much of our work in the lab. He helped explain much of the theory behind each lab technique and would walk us through each technique so we understood the protocol. When we had trouble with gel results and PCR reactions, Tomasz helped us brainstorm different ways to solve the problem to keep the project moving forward.
Patrick Brennock ~ Patrick helped with many of the subproject throughout- whether that be troubleshooting lab problems, giving us presentation advice, or helping with our academic writing for the wiki. Furthermore, he introduced us to Kara in the Fordyce Lab and helped with fabricating our microfluidic designs and devices.
Jessica Snyder ~ Dr. Snyder helped with microfluidics, both paper and plastic based at NASA Ames, and made our work in the NASA Ames Space Shop possible.
Human Practices Support
Yvonne Cagle ~ The team thanks Yvonne Cagle for taking the team to meet with us early on in our project design. Yvonne gave us many interesting things to consider from the perspective of an astronaut physician. She explained how little dexterity one might have when using the device in microgravity. Furthermore, she gave us many ideas for more immediate uses on Earth, including using drones to deliver a device to remote areas and areas that have been stricken by disaster and our in need of emergency medicine. She also had us consider how we would explain this device, and think about ways it could be explained across language barriers.
David Loftus ~ The team thanks Dr. Loftus, medical officer for Ames, for meeting with us several times throughout the summer and providing us with a medical perspective. He provided us with resources about the types of drugs in an astronaut's med kit, and he helped us decide on the 3 drugs we eventually worked to synthesize. He also gave us advice on our presentation and the ways we presented to a non-medical audience.
Steve Jurczyk ~ The team thanks Dr. Steve Jurczyk, NASA Associate Administrator, for his time in listening to our presentation and challenging us to better explain our project in a more compelling way. He gave us ideas for what NASA is looking for and where he sees NASA moving in the future.
Grant Murphy ~ The team thanks Grant Murphy from Merck for his insights into commercialization of pharmaceuticals. He helped us understand the industry standard for purity as well as what Merck looks for when considering investing in a medicine.
Open Insulin ~ The team thanks everyone at Open Insulin who spoke with us and gave us powerful insights into their company's mission and the importance of increased access to insulin throughout the world.
Jim Bridenstine ~ The team had the opportunity to listen to the Administrator of NASA, Jim Bridenstine, speak at Ames early in the summer, and even got to meet with him. Thank you to Mr. Bridenstine for his words and his inspiration on the Artemis mission and beyond!
Oliver Morton ~ The team thanks Oliver Morton, science writer, editor and currently with The Economist, for meeting with us early in the summer. Mr. Morton listened to our presentation and gave us key advice on how to tell a compelling story and how to captivate our audience.
Dr. Won Min Park ~ The team thanks Dr. Won Min Park of Kansas State University for his invaluable advice on complementary leucine zippers in fusion proteins.
Dr. S. Pete Worden ~ The team thanks Dr. Worden, Chairman of the Breakthrough Foundation and former Center Director of NASA Ames Research Center, for his invaluable insights on the future of space exploration, private and public.
Drs. Harry and June McDonald ~ The team thanks the McDonald's, who visited our lab early in the season and gave advice and encouragement as we started the project. Dr. Harry McDonald is an aerospace engineer and former Center Director of NASA Ames Research Center, so could visualize how our project could be used by NASA. Dr. June McDonald is an internist, and thus gave excellent feedback on the dual use of the drugs we selected for space and terrestrial applications.