Study Team
The Study Team at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine supports human studies commissioned by both internal and external clients, working closely with colleagues from the scientific departments on an interdisciplinary basis.
Thanks to its many years of experience in conducting complex human studies, the team can provide valuable support in the planning and implementation of study concepts. The team is interdisciplinary and comprises staff with expertise in the fields of clinical research, biology, project management, nutrition and laboratory work.
Among other things, the team participates in (long-term) bed rest and isolation studies for the space agencies ESA and NASA at :envihab. In this context, staff members are primarily responsible for recruiting participants and supporting them before, during and after the studies, as well as for the medical laboratories and the participants’ nutrition. In addition, the study team supports the conduct of experiments and hypoxia studies, and carries out nutritional studies in collaboration with various university partners and the Institute’s scientific departments.
A particular focus in all studies is on standardizing study conditions; this applies especially to the area of nutrition: The nutrition team within the study team develops standardized meal plans and dietary protocols for outpatient and inpatient studies. Depending on the study requirements, precisely defined nutritional limits for various nutrients are adhered to. The meal plans are also developed in line with the specific requirements of the various study days or study phases. Together with internal and external researchers, the nutrition team also analyses nutritional data and supports the conduct of experiments.
In addition, the study team plans and carries out outpatient studies on the DLR Short-Arm Centrifuge to develop new countermeasures for safe space missions. Their responsibilities also include coordinating and implementing the National Centrifuge Program at the Institute, which enables external researchers to use the Short-Arm Centrifuge for various scientific analyses. Research questions in this area include, for example, the perception of the body in three-dimensional space or changes in the blood vessels of the eye under altered gravitational conditions.