Translational Research Institute for Space Health

What Translational Research Institute for Space Health does

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) is a virtual institute established in 2016 within NASA's Human Research Program, chartered to coordinate translational research that safeguards astronaut health during deep space exploration missions. Operating with a small team of 11-50 personnel headquartered in Washington, DC, TRISH functions as a research coordination and grantmaking body rather than a commercial enterprise, bridging terrestrial medical advances with the unique physiological challenges of long-duration spaceflight including radiation exposure, microgravity effects, behavioral health, and autonomous medical care for missions beyond low Earth orbit.

Leadership is structured around a scientific advisory governance model: Lisa Suennen serves as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board, Aenor Sawyer as Chief Health Innovation Officer, and Emmanuel Urquieta Ordonez as senior manager. This composition reflects TRISH's orientation toward clinical translation and external scientific advisory input rather than traditional commercial management hierarchies.

As a federally funded virtual institute, TRISH does not operate a commercial revenue model; its resources flow through NASA's Human Research Program allocation. The institute's research operates in conjunction with NASA-program-level technology infrastructure, including the High-Performance Space Computing (HPSC) project developed with Microchip Technology, the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility housing the Athena supercomputer, and proprietary AI foundation models (Prithvi for geospatial analysis, Surya for heliophysics, INDUS LLMs across multiple science domains) distributed openly via Hugging Face. TRISH also engages external innovators through competitions such as the Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table, which invites global participation in designing Earth-independent food systems for long-duration missions.

Name

Translational Research Institute for Space Health

Website

https://nasa.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) is a virtual institute within NASA's Human Research Program, established in 2016 to advance translational research safeguarding astronaut health during deep space exploration missions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Space Health Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Biomedical Sciences & Medical Research Institutes (University-Based) (EDAHAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

International Science, Technology & Space Cooperation Organizations (BPADAAAK), Research & Lab-Based Short-Term Programs (Undergraduate/Graduate) (EDAIAIAF), Space & Astronomy Programs (EDAMABAE)

Keywords

• Space health research
• Astronaut biomedical research
• Deep space exploration
• Translational research services
• Human research program

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health is a virtual institute under NASA's Human Research Program that funds, conducts, and translates biomedical and behavioral health research to protect astronauts on long-duration deep space missions. It delivers research programs, scientific advisory services, and translational pipelines that convert laboratory discoveries into countermeasures, technologies, and operational guidance for NASA's deep space exploration missions including Artemis and future Mars expeditions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Translational Research Programs for Deep Space Crew Health Research programs that translate biomedical and behavioral science discoveries into countermeasures and operational solutions for astronauts on long-duration deep space missions, delivered to NASA as the primary sponsor.
• Scientific Advisory Services for NASA Exploration Missions Expert scientific advisory services provided through TRISH leadership and its Scientific Advisory Board to support NASA decision-making for exploration missions.
• Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table A competition-driven challenge program engaging external innovators to design complete, Earth-independent food systems for long-duration deep space missions.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Microchip Technology Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationSelected to develop High-Performance Space Computing (HPSC) processor providing at least 100 times the computational capacity of current spaceflight computers for future NASA missions including planetary exploration and lunar/Mars surface missions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI): TRISH's predecessor concept under NASA's Human Research Program, focused on biomedical research to enable long-duration human spaceflight. Most direct comparator in mission, scope, and NASA funding lineage.
• Baylor College of Medicine Center for Space Medicine: Academic home of TRISH's principal investigators; conducts translational space-medicine research with NASA funding and shares TRISH's mandate of mitigating crew-health risk for exploration missions.
• Universities Space Research Association (USRA): Nonprofit university consortium that operates NASA-affiliated research institutes and programs under cooperative agreements. Highly comparable governance/funding model to TRISH and similar role bridging academia and NASA.

Emerging players

• The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen): Translational biomedical research institute with NIH/grant funding model analogous to TRISH's NASA-funded translational posture. Comparable as a peer-scale, mission-focused biomedical research organization, though terrestrial rather than space-oriented.
• Space Medicine Innovation, LLC (commercial space health): Commercial space-medicine consulting and translational research firm serving private astronauts and commercial spaceflight operators. Comparable as an emerging alternative translational channel competing for the same space-health agenda TRISH supports.
• Aegis Aerospace: Commercial space R&D services company providing ISS payload integration, microgravity research, and spaceflight-analog services. Comparable as an emerging commercial provider operating in the same translational/experimental space-biology niche.

Broad incumbents

• The Aerospace Corporation: Federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) supporting national-security and civil space programs. Operates at the broader NASA/DoD interface and is comparable as a large-scale, NASA-adjacent nonprofit research entity — though broader than TRISH's health-only mandate.
• MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Federally funded R&D center operating advanced computing, sensors, and AI for national-security and NASA-adjacent missions. Comparable as a federally affiliated R&D center with overlapping AI/compute capabilities that could substitute for some TRISH functions.
• KBR (NASA Human Health and Performance contract): Major contractor operating NASA's Human Health and Performance / Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences contract. Directly competes with TRISH for NASA human-research task orders and operational delivery.

Regional players

• International Space University (ISU): International institution offering space-focused graduate and executive programs with NASA and international-agency partnerships. Comparable in its NASA-adjacent educational/training footprint, though more international and education-led than TRISH.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BCMSpaceHealth
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/translational-research-institute-for-space-health

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments3 records

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Frequently asked questions about Translational Research Institute for Space Health