This article is a collaboration between MedPage Today and:
SAN FRANCISCO -- How does a virologist decide to become an astronaut? Procrastination.
Ten years ago, , was heading a lab at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research. She knew she should be writing a grant application but kept putting it off, and decided on a career change. She was going to leave her job as a virologist to apply to become an astronaut.
"My colleagues said we've seen this movie -- scientist who works on Ebola goes to the space station? That usually doesn't end very well," she said at the here.
At the annual IDWeek meeting, a joint conference of the (IDSA), the (PIDS), the (SHEA), and the (HIVMA), Rubins talked about not only the scientific research, but the first-hand research all the astronauts on the space station are performing through their experiences.
Rubins pointed out the challenges of operating in what she characterized as a "closed loop environment" on the space station -- even outside the laboratory.
"It's like you're sleeping in the lab. There's literally no way for astronauts to leave, so we have to be mindful that everything we do is in the closed loop system forever," she said.
Operating a laboratory in a space station comes with its own set of challenges. Rubins said that they try not to use shatterable materials and there are "multiple layers of containment" -- meaning specimens are stored both in a plastic tube and a plastic bag.
Rubins said that she hopes to examine the microbiome of the space station, but she "thinks we may find a lot less diversity" because the space station lacks the normal environment of earth. Not only is she missing her two dogs, but other things one might take for granted on solid ground, like soil.
"Matt Damon grew potatoes on Mars, but we developed special nutrient packs to grow plants," she said, alluding to the hit film "The Martian."
Questions that may emerge as they research the space station microbiome could include the changing dynamics associated with bringing in a new crew "that could bring specific bugs with them -- can we tie that to temporal events on board the space station," Rubins said.
In preparation for going into space, Rubins said the crew receives not only the standard vaccine schedule, but several vaccinations usually reserved for adults ≥65. A couple weeks prior to launch, the crew is quarantined.
She characterized being sick in space as "very interesting." The space station has a physician astronaut on board, and everybody gets basic emergency care, including advanced cardiac life support. But to return to earth only takes "a few hours to stabilize and undock and get to definitive care," Rubins said.
This will change dramatically when the space station goes to Mars, or even the moon.
"When you're talking about a 4-5 day return, that's a bit different," she said. "We will have to think about serious illness or injury in a different way when we can't bring a person back to the planet."
Rubins said in terms of infectious diseases in space, they prevent them from being transmitted via a quarantine. But she said there has been "a problem with slightly suppressed immunity" in astronauts, with reactivated cases of shingles and herpes.
"Is this slight immunosuppression something that gets worse over time or is it a low-grade reaction to lots of changes in a person's circadian rhythm?" she said.
In addition, she hopes to examine the potential influence of microgravity, "fluids shifting around in various compartments" and the low-level effects of radiation, as well as the effect of 16 sunrises and sunsets per day on the circadian rhythm of the astronaut population. Rubins described the this population as "pretty captive," and it should enable researchers to follow this medically well-characterized group of people longitudinally.
"There are all kinds of interesting stressors, and it's a complex problem to resolve how each stressor is contributing to the microbiome," she said.