May 6, 2004
Northwestern University Professor Selected for Astronaut Program
CHICAGO --- Robert L. Satcher, M.D. -- assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, a researcher at The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and an orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital -- has been named an astronaut candidate by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA made the announcement today as part of the Space Day celebration at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
Satcher was named to the new class of 11 astronauts who were selected from a field of about 2,000 applicants. The class includes pilots, engineers, researchers and educators who will focus their careers on fulfilling the Vision for Space Exploration.
The class begins training this summer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Once the astronaut candidate class completes a year of training, Satcher and the other astronauts are eligible to be assigned to a mission.
Satcher, 38, one of two physicians in the astronaut class, joined the Feinberg School faculty in 2001 and specializes in musculoskeletal oncology. He also is an adjunct professor in biomedical engineering and is a member of the Institute for Bioengineering and Nanoscience in Advanced Medicine at Northwestern University.
Satcher treats child and adult bone cancer and is also an attending physician at Children’s Memorial Hospital. He leads research on why tumors metastasize to the bone, develops bone substitutes for use in cancer patients and investigates new drugs for the treatment of bone cancer. His clinical interests also include missions to underserved areas, with a focus on West Africa; recent trips have included Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Gabon.
Satcher is one of a small group of surgeons in the country with expertise in limb salvage surgery, which allows only the cancerous part of the bone to be removed and replaced by a bone graft or metal or plastic endoprosthesis. Satcher is involved in research to create a bone substitute with which existing bone can integrate. He also is interested in how bone cells respond to stresses.
Satcher received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. degree from Harvard University School of Medicine. He has received several prestigious career development awards, including a $365,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award through its Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program.
During their NASA careers, members of the 2004 astronaut class may help develop the Crew Exploration Vehicle, study the effects of microgravity on the human body and possibly help plan the first lunar missions.
Much research focuses on understanding the effects of long-duration space flight on humans -- knowledge needed to build a base on the moon and take trips to Mars. Many major questions center on bone and muscle degeneration in microgravity and radiation exposure in space.
Satcher, who is a nephew of the former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., lives in Oak Park, Ill., with his wife and new baby girl.
The first physician-astronaut was Joseph Kerwin, who received an M.D. degree from the Feinberg School of Medicine in 1957. He flew on the Sky Lab Mission in April 1973.
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