NIH
US national medical research body partnering on Artemis II organ-on-chip experiments.
Last refreshed: 2 April 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
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Background
NIH participates in the AVATAR Experiment through its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), contributing organ-on-chip methodology expertise to the deep-space radiation study flying aboard Orion.
The National Institutes of Health is the primary US government medical research agency and the world's largest public funder of biomedical research, with an annual budget of roughly $47 billion. NCATS specifically focuses on translating scientific discoveries into clinical treatments, making organ-chip platforms a natural fit for its mandate.
NIH's participation connects Artemis II Science to the broader organ-on-chip research programme. The same microfluidic technology flying in Orion is being developed for terrestrial drug testing and personalised medicine, meaning results from the Moon mission will feed directly back into mainstream biomedical research pipelines.