Millie Hughes-Fulford
From The Space Library
 Millie Hughes-Fulford | |
| Birth Name | Millie Hughes-Fulford |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | Dec 21 1945 |
| Occupation | Payload Specialist, (Ph.D.) |
Contents |
Personal Data
Born December 21,1945, in Mineral Wells, Texas. Married, her husband, George Fulford, is a retired Captain with United Airlines. Her daughter is married and lives in Mill Valley. Recreational interests include scuba diving, swimming, gardening, photography, computer graphics and boating. Her father is deceased; her mother still resides in Mineral Wells, Texas.
Education
Graduated from Mineral Wells High, in 1962; received her of Science degree in Chemistry and Biology from Tarleton State University in 1968, and her Ph.D. from Texas Woman's University in 1972.
Experience
Dr. Hughes-Fulford entered college at the age of 16 and earned her BS degree in chemistry and biology from Tarleton State University in 1968. In 1968, Dr. Hughes-Fulford began her graduate work studying plasma chemistry at Texas Woman's University as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow from 1968-1971. She was an American Association of University Women fellow from 1971-1972. Upon completing her doctorate degree at TWU in 1972, Dr. Hughes-Fulford joined the faculty of Southwestern Medical School, University of Texas, Dallas as a postdoctoral fellow with Marvin D. Siperstein where her research focused on regulation of cholesterol metabolism. Dr. Hughes-Fulford has contributed over 90 papers and abstracts on bone and cancer growth regulation. Since then, she was named the Federal Employee of the Year for the Western Region in 1985, International Zontian in 1992 and Marin County Woman of the Year in 1993. She was a major in the US Army Reserve Medical Corps until 1995.
Spaceflight Experience
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected as a payload specialist by NASA in January 1983, Dr. Hughes-Fulford flew in June 1991 aboard STS-40 Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS 1), the first Spacelab mission dedicated to biomedical studies. The SLS-1 mission flew over 3.2 million miles in 146 orbits and its crew completed over 18 experiments during a 9-day period bringing back more medical data than any previous NASA flight. Mission duration was 218 hours, 14 minutes and 20 seconds. She was the Principal Investigator (PI) on a series of SpaceHab/Biorack experiments, which examined the regulation of osteoblast (bone cell) growth. These experiments flew on STS-76, in March of 1996, STS-81 in January 1997 and STS-84 in May 1997. These studies examined the root causes of osteoporosis that occurs in astronauts during spaceflight. She found changes in anabolic signal transduction in microgravity. Currently, in collaboration with Dr. Augusto Cogoli of Zurich, Switzerland, she is examining changes in T-cell gene induction in spaceflight in a joint NASA/ ESA International Space Station experiment that will be going up on the Soyuz in September 2006. The previous Leukin experiment with Dr. Cogoli was lost on the STS-107 mission. This study (Leukin) examines the mechanism of action causing the decrease in T-cell activation in microgravity, a medical problem that was first found in returning Apollo astronauts. Isolated T-cells will be activated in spaceflight on KUBIK hardware on ISS; the altered gene activation will be examined using Affymetrix gene chip and real-time RTPCR. Further studies of gene regulation and signal transduction in spaceflight will be performed on Soyuz/ISS experiments examining protein kinase C (PKC) signal activation in April, 2007. More information on her laboratory and studies can be obtained at http://www.spacedu.com.
Special Honours
2005 First Place Winner VideoMaker Short Film Contest; 2004-present Board of Trustees for USRA. 2001-present Board of Trustees Tiburon Romberg Center; 1995-present Organizing Committee for the International Conference on Eicosanoids and other active Bio-lipids; 1995-2001 Advisory Board for Marine Biological Library Sciences Writing Program, Woods Hole, Mass; 1994 Marin County Woman of the Year. In 1991 she received the NASA Space Flight Medal. From 1987-1990 she was a member of the Committee on Space Biology and Space Medicine, National Research Council; 1986-1989 Board of Regents Embry-Riddle University, Daytona Beach, Florida; l984 Presidential Award for Federal Employee for Western Region; 1972 American Association of University Women's Fellowship; 1968-1971 Nation Summer Research Fellow (Undergraduate).
Other Information
Dr. Hughes-Fulford is an Adjunct Professor at the University of California Medical Center at San Francisco where she continues her research. As the Director of the Laboratory for Cell Growth and Scientific Advisor to the UnderSecretary of Veteran's Affairs, she studies the control of human prostate cancer growth with VA grants and the regulation of bone and lymphocyte activation with NASA grants.
Jun-05
