Alumnus of NASA program administered by ORAU wins presidential award

Top presidential honor recognizes research initiated during fellowship, continued at NASA’s Ames Research Center 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Joshua S. Alwood, a former participant in the NASA Postdoctoral Program, was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) at a ceremony in April. PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government for science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Alwood received the award in recognition of advances in space bioscience he achieved at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

The NASA Postdoctoral Program contributes to national priorities for scientific exploration, confirms NASA’s leadership in fundamental research, and complements the efforts of NASA’s partners in the national science community. Oak Ridge Associated Universities has administered NPP for NASA since 2005.

As an NPP fellow at Ames from 2010 until 2013, Alwood studied the biological challenges the human skeleton faces in a zero-gravity environment and the radiation exposure associated with spaceflight. He also developed methods to use a new synchrotron transmission x-ray microscope to image cellular structures and canalicular networks in mammalian mineralized tissue. The transmission x-ray microscope made possible new discoveries by enabling visualization and quantification of structural changes in bone tissue after spaceflight in microgravity.

After completing his NPP fellowship in October 2013, Alwood continued his work at NASA’s Ames Research Center as a contract employee scientist researching the effects of zero-gravity environments on the human skeleton following long-duration spaceflight.

“My NPP fellowship allowed me to explore scientific questions with progressively greater autonomy, and provided positive exposure and recognition within my center and across NASA,” Alwood said. “Receiving this award has been such an incredible experience and should provide additional momentum as I start my research career.”