NASA will announce the first- and second-place winners of the Vascular Tissue Challenge, a prize competition to grow and sustain functioning human tissue in a lab, Wednesday, June 9. Experts will answer questions about the teams’ tissue engineering t
WINSTON-SALEM – A team of researchers from Wake Forest University led by Kelsey Willson, a graduate student, has won NASA’s Vascular Tissue Challenge, and will receive $300,000 and the opportunity to test their technology on the International Space Station.
“Not only was this a scientifically difficult challenge,” said Willson, there were technical hurdles due to the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic. She and her team were locked out of their lab for a period of time, due to COVID-19, said Willson.
The Vascular Tissue Challenge was issued in 2016. The winner was announced today on NASA Live.
Willson’s team will continue this work, which has applications far beyond how it might be used in space. She also conducts additional research, including applications for using 3D printing of functional human skin, shared Willson.
WINSTON-SALEM - A team of researchers from Wake Forest University led by Kelsey Willson, a graduate student, has won NASA's Vascular Tissue Challenge, and will