ASAcampus takes an experiment to the International Space Station

After taking part in the CORM experiment (2017) and in the XENOGRISS experiment (2019), the researchers Dr. Monica Monici and Dr. Francesca Cialdai of the ASAcampus Joint Laboratory are taking part in the “SUTURE in SPACE” experiment, which will take place on the International Space Station (ISS) during the Minerva mission in which the Italian astronaut of the European Space Agency, Samantha Cristoforetti, is taking part.

The purpose of the experiment, selected by the European Space Agency in the ESA-ILSRA2014 call, and with the support of the Italian Space Agency (C-ASI N. 2018-14-U.0-Suture in Space), is to study the healing process of surgical wounds in Space, in order to better understand the mechanisms of tissue repair and regeneration and to identify therapeutic strategies for the treatment of wounds both in Space and on Earth.

The hardware and the biological samples required to carry out the experiment, after being prepared and integrated in the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) laboratories in Cape Canaveral, will be taken to the ISS with launch SpX-25 (Cargo Dragon 2) scheduled for 7^th of June.

The team that will prepare the experiment in the KSC includes Dr. Monica Monici, the scientific coordinator of the experiment, (PI), Dr. Francesca Cialdai, Dr. Chiara Risaliti and the surgeons Dr. Desirèe Pantalone of the Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine of the University of Florence and Dr. Marco Bernini of the University Hospital of Careggi. The hardware, on the other hand, was developed by Kayser Italia of Livorno and by OHB Bremen, Germany.

The experiment is possible thanks to seven years of multidisciplinary research during which many researchers from different departments of various universities worked together.