PULSE presented at an international summit on radiation and space
Former FDA Medical Officer Alla Shapiro joined the annual Schull Institute event to talk about the project’s potential to advance cardiac research for both space exploration and medicine on Earth.
On 11–12 April 2025, Alla Shapiro, MD, PhD, former Medical Officer at the US Food and Drug Administration and member of PULSE partner RDInnovation, attended and presented at the 8th Annual Schull Institute International Symposium dedicated to Radiation and Space, held at the Gilruth Center in Houston, Texas.
Her presentation, “From Nuclear Fallout at Chernobyl to Strategies for Radiation Mitigation in Space”, traced the arc of radiation research from the health consequences observed in Chernobyl cleanup workers — including elevated cardiovascular disease rates — to the challenges facing astronauts on long-duration missions. It provided the context in which PULSE’s work sits: cosmic radiation and microgravity pose real, documented risks to the human heart, and better tools are needed to study and mitigate them.
Within this framing, Alla introduced the PULSE project and the role of RDInnovation in the consortium. RDInnovation is leading the development of solid drug formulations for space applications, with a focus on candidates that aim to reduce cardiac damage induced by cosmic radiation and microgravity — including BP-C2, a polyphenolic compound that has shown radioprotective and radiomitigative properties in pre-clinical studies.
The summit brought together scientists, physicians, and researchers from multiple countries working on radiation biology and space medicine.