{"id":16645,"date":"2023-07-11T09:48:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T14:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/?p=16645"},"modified":"2023-07-11T09:48:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T14:48:58","slug":"nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) awarded $175,000 in July to Qingsu Cheng, assistant professor, biomedical engineering, for a one-year research project to evaluate the risk of breast cancer during long-term space travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings could help medical experts develop better prevention and treatment strategies for primary and secondary breast cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheng will evaluate the breast cancer risks for female astronauts who travel to Mars, a journey that would last at least 27 months. Mammographic density (MD), he explains, is an important risk factor for all types of breast cancer and he will evaluate changes to these astronauts\u2019 MDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to NASA, living in space for six months exposes a person to roughly the same amount of radiation as 1,000 chest X-rays. (The Earth\u2019s atmosphere and magnetic field protect a person from the types of radiation found in space.) This level of exposure can damage DNA and lead to health problems including cancer, central nervous damage, bone loss and cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


From battling breast cancer to identifying bacteria<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheng\u2019s cutting-edge, translational research in the areas of cancer and biomaterials has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and NASA, which funded his previous study on astronaut health on the moon and Mars. He has published 25 peer-reviewed journal papers, which received more than 400 citations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c51ÁÔÆæ is giving me the opportunity to contribute to broadening our knowledge about the interaction between microenvironmental factors and a variety of diseases,\u201d Cheng says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheng\u2019s cancer research is in the areas of early detection, risk assessment, and development of non-invasive treatments, which manipulate the tumor microenvironment in a way that combats breast cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, he is investigating the biomechanical properties of breast tissue\u2014knowledge that aids in detecting the disease and planning surgical procedures\u2014and fibroblasts, a non-cancerous cell type that is found in most solid tumors and associated with disease\u2019s progression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) awarded $175,000 in July to Qingsu Cheng, assistant professor, biomedical engineering, for a one-year research project to evaluate the risk of breast cancer during long-term space travel. The findings could help medical experts …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37709,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[94,66,25,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biomedical-health","category-milwaukee-engineer","category-news","category-research"],"yoast_head":"\nCollege of Engineering & Applied Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) awarded $175,000 in July to Qingsu Cheng, assistant professor, biomedical engineering, for a one-year research project to evaluate the risk of breast cancer during long-term space travel. The findings could help medical experts …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Engineering & Applied Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-11T14:48:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-11T14:48:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/537\/2023\/07\/QingsuCheng-.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Content Author Unassigned\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Content Author Unassigned\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Content Author Unassigned\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1fbd31edecc781e295b59b1fe668baa6\"},\"headline\":\"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-11T14:48:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-11T14:48:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":330,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/537\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/QingsuCheng-.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Biomedical & Health\",\"Milwaukee Engineer\",\"News\",\"Research\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/\",\"name\":\"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel - College of Engineering & Applied Science\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/537\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/QingsuCheng-.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-11T14:48:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-11T14:48:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1fbd31edecc781e295b59b1fe668baa6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/537\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/QingsuCheng-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/537\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/QingsuCheng-.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/\",\"name\":\"College of Engineering & Applied Science\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1fbd31edecc781e295b59b1fe668baa6\",\"name\":\"Content Author Unassigned\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cd486fa12534048793f5bc5a62c74e9fbd285173671acdb13531381a862559b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cd486fa12534048793f5bc5a62c74e9fbd285173671acdb13531381a862559b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cd486fa12534048793f5bc5a62c74e9fbd285173671acdb13531381a862559b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Content Author Unassigned\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/engineering\\\/author\\\/0-content-author-unassigneduwm-edu\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"College of Engineering & Applied Science","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel","og_description":"The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) awarded $175,000 in July to Qingsu Cheng, assistant professor, biomedical engineering, for a one-year research project to evaluate the risk of breast cancer during long-term space travel. The findings could help medical experts …","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/","og_site_name":"College of Engineering & Applied Science","article_published_time":"2023-07-11T14:48:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-11T14:48:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/537\/2023\/07\/QingsuCheng-.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Content Author Unassigned","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Content Author Unassigned","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/"},"author":{"name":"Content Author Unassigned","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/#\/schema\/person\/1fbd31edecc781e295b59b1fe668baa6"},"headline":"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel","datePublished":"2023-07-11T14:48:54+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-11T14:48:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/"},"wordCount":330,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/537\/2023\/07\/QingsuCheng-.png","articleSection":["Biomedical & Health","Milwaukee Engineer","News","Research"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/","name":"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel - College of Engineering & Applied Science","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/537\/2023\/07\/QingsuCheng-.png","datePublished":"2023-07-11T14:48:54+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-11T14:48:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/#\/schema\/person\/1fbd31edecc781e295b59b1fe668baa6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/537\/2023\/07\/QingsuCheng-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/537\/2023\/07\/QingsuCheng-.png","width":300,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/nasa-awards-cheng-175k-to-evaluate-breast-cancer-risk-associated-with-space-travel\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NASA awards Cheng $175K to evaluate breast cancer risk associated with space travel"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/","name":"College of Engineering & Applied Science","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/#\/schema\/person\/1fbd31edecc781e295b59b1fe668baa6","name":"Content Author Unassigned","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cd486fa12534048793f5bc5a62c74e9fbd285173671acdb13531381a862559b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cd486fa12534048793f5bc5a62c74e9fbd285173671acdb13531381a862559b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cd486fa12534048793f5bc5a62c74e9fbd285173671acdb13531381a862559b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Content Author Unassigned"},"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/author\/0-content-author-unassigneduwm-edu\/"}]}},"meta_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1692390727:685"],"_edit_last":["415"],"feat_img_video":[""],"feat_img_gallery":[""],"feat_img_caption":["feat-img-caption-on"],"breadcrumbs_display":["breadcrumbs-on"],"otp_nav_display":["otp-on-mobile"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["66"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["2"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_uwm_wg_content_review_log":["a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:11:\"reviewer_id\";i:0;s:6:\"status\";s:5:\"reset\";s:10:\"entry_date\";s:19:\"2026-03-01 02:11:16\";s:16:\"priority_content\";s:0:\"\";s:4:\"note\";s:43:\"Content review reset at start of new cycle.\";}}"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37709"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16645"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16933,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16645\/revisions\/16933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}