NASA Selects Next Class of Space Health Postdoctoral Fellows

May 18, 2026

NASA Selects Next Class of Space Health Postdoctoral Fellows

A view of NASA’s Orion spacecraft aboard the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on April 1 during the launch of the Artemis II test flight.

Credit: NASA

The NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) has selected two early‑career scientists for its next class of postdoctoral fellows. The new fellows will begin their projects in May, focusing on space food systems and astronaut eye health.

The TRISH Postdoctoral Fellowship Program supports independent research that advances biomedical, behavioral, and technological approaches relevant to human space exploration. The selected projects should aim to reduce spaceflight-related health risks and improve human health on Earth.

The selected fellows are:

     Dr. Baiyang Liu
     Institution: Columbia University in New York City
     Project: Developing a Diazotrophic and Nutritionally Optimized Spirulina Strain for Extended      Space Missions
     Mentor: Dr. Harris Wang

     Dr. Dylan Pham
     Institution: Texas A&M University in College Station
     Project: Impact of Simulated Microgravity and Aging on Ocular Artery and Neural Retina      Function
     Mentor: Dr. Travis Hein

“Our postdoctoral fellows bring new ideas, technical expertise, and energy to some of the most complex challenges in human spaceflight,” said Dr. Dorit Donoviel, executive director of TRISH and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “By investing in the next generation, we are building the capability required to achieve a sustained presence on the Moon and extend human exploration deeper into space.”

A virtual institute, TRISH is empowered by NASA’s Human Research Program to help solve challenges of human deep space exploration. It pursues and funds research to deliver scientific and technological solutions that advance space health and help humans thrive wherever they explore, in space or on Earth.

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NASA’s Human Research Program

NASA’s Human Research Program pursues methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, commercial missions, the International Space Station and Artemis missions, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives the program’s quest to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission ready as human space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.