Hallym University Professor Chanheum Park's Team Wins "2025 Human In Space Challenge"

Nano-Bio Regenerative Medicine Institute

The research team led by Professor Chanheum Park (Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hallym University Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital) at the Nano-Bio Regenerative Medicine Institute of Hallym University (President Choi Yanghee) won the Final Winner award in the "2025 Human In Space (HIS) Challenge" program, hosted by Boryung Co., Ltd., on November 7.

Professor Chanheum Park's research team at Hallym University Nano-Bio Regenerative Medicine Institute won first place in the final round of the 2025 Human In Space (HIS) Challenge program on the 7th. Photo shows Professor Chanheum Park, second from the right in the front row. Provided by Hallym University

The HIS program, in partnership with international space organizations and companies such as Axiom Space in the United States, aims to discover and support technologies, platforms, and medical systems that enable long-duration spaceflight for humanity. Launched in 2022 as "Care in Space" and renamed the "HIS Challenge" in 2023, this year marks its fourth edition. It is now recognized as a globally prestigious competition program in the field of space medicine.

Professor Park's team participated in the Orbital Launch Funding category of the HIS program, winning the final round after three stages of evaluation with their project titled "Developing a Mini-satellite based system for 3D brain tumor spheroid culture and drug response analysis."

This project involves culturing brain tumor cells in the microgravity environment of space using a small satellite of 8U size (1U = 10cm × 10cm × 10cm), and comparing and analyzing the cellular responses to varying drug concentrations with ground-based experiments. To overcome the limitations of ground-based experiments and elucidate the drug responsiveness of brain tumors in space, demonstration studies using small satellites are essential. The research team was recognized for the necessity and scientific validity of this research, ultimately winning the HIS program.

With this victory, Professor Park's team will receive $300,000 (approximately 450 million KRW) in launch funding for the "BioRexs (Bio Reentry Experimental Satellite)" space biomedical research platform, currently being developed as a national project. In addition, through the HIS Accelerator Program, they will receive multifaceted support for follow-up research, including tailored mentoring from global experts in space life sciences and healthcare, international networking, experimental design, and feasibility reviews for orbital demonstration.

They will also be provided with $100,000 in AWS service credits to utilize a cloud-based data analysis environment, as well as professional infrastructure and consulting needed for the technology demonstration phase, such as prototype production and environmental testing. Prototype production is the initial stage of developing a preliminary model to verify the functionality and stability of research equipment for demonstration in the space environment.

This achievement is significant in that a domestic research team has secured an opportunity for actual orbital validation of a space biomedical research platform, which would be difficult to obtain independently.

In particular, winning the HIS program, which includes participation from global space companies, demonstrates that the technology and research credibility of BioRexs have been internationally recognized. Through this, the research team has established a global collaboration pipeline that could lead to joint projects with international space agencies such as NASA and ESA, research based on the International Space Station (ISS), and the attraction of private research investment.

Professor Park stated, "Winning the HIS program is a meaningful achievement, as it establishes an independent research platform for Korea in the field of space biomedical engineering and puts us on par with world-leading research. The BioRexs platform under development is the world's first attempt to quantitatively analyze drug responses of glioblastoma in a microgravity environment, and this will open a new chapter in space biomedical research."

Meanwhile, the "BioCabinet" space biology research payload developed by Professor Park's team is scheduled to be launched into space aboard the third Next-Generation Mid-size Satellite via the fourth launch of the Nuri rocket on November 27.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.