Cosmic Cells
Florida State biophysics alumnus Afshin Beheshti looks to the stars to unlock mysteries of disease progression
Space may be the final frontier, but scientists like NASA researcher and alumnus Afshin Beheshti are proving the cosmos can also hold answers to human medical mysteries.
Beheshti currently works with Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, BMSIS, at NASA Ames Research Center in California鈥檚 Silicon Valley, analyzing how spaceflight affects humans and looking to space to better understand disease progression and identify earlier indicators of health risks. Specifically, Beheshti works with microribonucleic acids, or miRNAs, molecules that play a large role in gene expression, and mitochondria, the cell鈥檚 powerplants, to identify cellular changes caused by disease or lengthy periods living in space.
鈥淪pace is a model for a lot of accelerated diseases, which include mitochondrial diseases, cancer risk, cardiovascular issues and more,鈥 Beheshti said. 鈥淢y background in biophysics, which uses physics approaches and methods to study biological phenomena like human health, also gives me a unique lens to understand how space travel affects the human body.鈥
Among Beheshti鈥檚 past projects is NASA鈥檚 GeneLab platform, now part of NASA鈥檚 Open Science Data Repository, the first database of its kind allowing users to upload, download, and share spaceflight data about human cells from experiments conducted by NASA scientists as well as recipients of NASA grants, free of charge. Discoveries made using GeneLab helped scientists better understand the foundations of many cellular anomalies that result in disease as well as prepare astronauts to withstand the rigors of long-duration spaceflight.
鈥淲orking on GeneLab allowed me to explore how to creatively use existing data to produce novel and important findings,鈥 said Beheshti, who earned a bachelor鈥檚 in high-energy physics at the University of Minnesota in 1997 before coming to FSU for graduate school. 鈥淕eneLab expands the possibilities of open science and allows people who don鈥檛 have NASA grants or the ability to send samples to space to explore data in this field.鈥
Beheshti always wanted to pursue research to enhance people鈥檚 quality of life, but he wasn鈥檛 sure of the approach until an FSU adviser explained how being a physicist allows you to be a jack-of-all-trades, viewing different disciplines through the lens of physics to better understand the fundamentals of each. He completed his master鈥檚 degree in physics here in 2001 on the way to earning a biophysics doctorate.
鈥淲hile at FSU, I worked with professor of physics David Van Winkle on how DNA moves through structures in the body,鈥 Beheshti said. 鈥淭he technical skills I developed allowed me to pursue postdoctoral research in the medical field outside my realm of experience. After I graduated in 2002, I completed one postdoctoral appointment in an oral microbiology lab and another in a cancer systems biology lab.鈥
鈥I love what I do so much that it doesn鈥檛 seem like work. My hope is that the work I do makes a small dent to improve life everywhere.鈥
鈥 Afshin Beheshti
Following these experiences, Beheshti accepted an assistant professor of medicine position at Tufts University in Massachusetts. During this time, he was also an associate investigator at St. Elizabeth鈥檚 Medical Center overseeing microscope facilities before transitioning to assistant professor of medicine at Tufts Medical Center.
There, Beheshti developed a technique to use miRNAs as biomarkers 鈥 measurements like pulse rate, body temperature, and blood pressure used to assess a patient鈥檚 condition 鈥 to potentially identify disease earlier in the diagnostic process. Beheshti discerned a miRNA signature associated with diffused B cell lymphoma, a finding that bolstered his work in the field: By learning a key miRNA signature, Beheshti can monitor disease progression.
鈥淚n my current lab at BMSIS at NASA, through the grants I鈥檝e obtained, I鈥檝e adapted this miRNA technique to determine a particular signature caused by space radiation and microgravity,鈥 Beheshti said. 鈥淭his miRNA signature indicates health risks caused by the space environment, and I hope to use this research to determine when the point-of-no-return occurs regarding astronaut health risks. By showing these miRNAs are good biomarkers and developing ways to mitigate physiological damage in space, we can apply these techniques to a clinical context on Earth.鈥
Utilizing research from his colleague and a founder of the field of mitochondrial genetics, Doug Wallace, Beheshti analyzes key mitochondrial changes occurring due to different diseases and the effects of spaceflight. The two first met when Beheshti reached out to Wallace for assistance interpreting some mitochondrial alterations 鈥 the findings indicated spaceflight suppresses mitochondrial activity in humans and impacts energy levels and job performance in space.
鈥淎fshin is a committed and enthusiastic leader and scientist who is highly collaborative and inclusive,鈥 said Wallace, director of the Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine at the Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. 鈥淗e is an expert bio informaticist talented in applying computational tools to a wide range of biomedical problems.鈥
While Beheshti鈥檚 work necessitates he think beyond our atmosphere, he remains grounded by focusing on the molecules comprising the human body and enjoying his day-to-day research.
鈥淚 love what I do so much that it doesn鈥檛 seem like work,鈥 Beheshti said. 鈥淢y hope is that the work I do makes a small dent to improve life everywhere.鈥
Devin Bittner is a two-time FSU alumna who earned a Master鈥檚 in Business Administration in 2022 and a bachelor鈥檚 in digital media production in 2019.
McKenzie Harris is a two-time FSU alumna who earned a master鈥檚 degree from the College of Communication and Information in 2022 and a bachelor鈥檚 degree from the Department of English in 2020.