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Dr. Virginia Wotring

Academic Education

  • Post-graduate research at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL USA. Structure, function and pharmacology of ligand-gated ion channels of the nervous system.
  • Ph.D., Pharmacological and Physiological Science, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA. Antagonism in inhibitory members of the ligand gated ion channel superfamily. Advisor: Kong-Woo (Peter) Yoon, M.D.
  • BS in Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee FL USA

Professional Experience

  • 2020- present Professor, International Space University, Strasbourg France
  • 2019-2020 Associate Professor, International Space University, Strasbourg France
  • 2019-present Adjunct Associate Professor, Center for Space Medicine and Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
  • 2016 – 2018 Deputy Director and Chief Scientist, Translational Research Institute for Space Health Houston, TX USA
  • 2015 – 2018 Associate Professor, Center for Space Medicine and Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
  • 2015- 2017 Science and Technology Integration Manager, National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, TX USA
  • 2009 – 2015 Discipline Lead, Pharmacology, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston TX USA

Memberships

  • 2021-2022, member, European Space Agency SciSpacE Roadmap Pharmacology Subgroup
  • 2021-2022, member, European Space Agency SciSpacE Roadmap Countermeasure Subgroup
  • 2019 – present, Faculty Lead, Women in Aerospace – Europe, Strasbourg group
  • 2015 – 2018, member, Organizing Committee, NASA Johnson Space Center Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop
  • 2015 – present, Space Medicine Association
  • 2015 – present, American Society of Gravitational & Space Research
  • 2013 – present, Aerospace Medicine Association

Research Expertise and Teaching Interests

Physiology and pharmacology in the unusual environment of spaceflight missions.

  • Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in the space environment
  • Omics and metabolism during space missions
  • Pharmaceutical stability in the space environment
  • Women’s health for astronauts
  • Personalized medicine for spaceflight

Publications

Selected peer-reviewed publications

orcid.org/0000-0002-3391-3899; h-index 16

  1. Vitry, G., Finch, R., Mcstay, G., Behesti, A., Déjean, S., Larose, T., Wotring, V., Abraham da Silveira, W., Muscle atrophy phenotype gene expression during spaceflight is linked to a metabolic crosstalk in both the liver and the muscle in mice , ISCIENCE (2022), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105213.

  2. Sawyers L, Anderson C, Boyd MJ, Hessel V, Wotring V, Williams PM, Toh LS. Astropharmacy: Pushing the boundaries of the pharmacists’ role for sustainable space exploration. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2022 Feb 12:S1551-7411(22)00034-1. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2022.02.002. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35183459.

  3. Developing, Implementing, and Applying Novel Techniques During Systematic Reviews of Primary Space Medicine Data. Winnard A, Caplan N, Bruce-Martin C, Swain P, Velho R, Meroni R, Wotring V, Damann V, Weber T, Evetts S, Laws J. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021 Aug 1;92(8):681-688. doi: 10.3357/AMHP.5803.2021.PMID: 34503621

  4. Swain P, Laws JM, De Martino E, Wotring V, Caplan N, Winnard A.  Effectiveness of exercise countermeasures for the prevention of musculoskeletal deconditioning in simulated hypogravity: A systematic review, Acta Astronautica, Volume 185, 2021, Pages 236-243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.05.005.

  5. Jain V, Ploutz-Snyder R, Young M, Wotring V. Potential Venous Thromboembolism Risk in Female Astronauts. Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance. 2020 May; 91(5). doi: https://doi.org/10.3357/AMHP.5458.2020

  6. Laws JM, Caplan N, Bruce C, McGrogan C, Lindsay K, Wild B, Debuse B, Wotring V, Winnard A. Systematic review of the technical and physiological constraints of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle that affect the capability of astronauts to exercise effectively during spaceflight. Acta Astronautica. 2020 March; 170:665.

  7. Wotring V and Smith L, Dose Tracker Application for Collecting Medication Use Data from International Space Station Crewmembers, Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance (in press, Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance) Volume 91, Number 1, January 2020, pp. 41-45(5). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3357/AMHP.5392.2020.

Reviews

  1. Dello Russo C, Bandiera T, Monici M, Surdo L, Yip VLM, Wotring V, Morbidelli L. Physiological adaptations affecting drug pharmacokinetics in space: what do we really know? A critical review of the literature. Br J Pharmacol. 2022;179:2538–2557.
  2. Pavez Loriè E, Baatout S, Choukér A, Buchheim J-I, Baselet B, Dello Russo C, Wotring V, Monici M, Morbidelli L, Gagliardi D, Stingl JC, Surdo L and Yip VLM (2021) The Future of Personalized Medicine in Space: From Observations to Countermeasures. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 9:739747.

Books & Chapters

    1. Wotring V. (2020) Spaceflight Pharmacology. In: Barratt M., Baker E., Pool S. (eds) Principles of Clinical Medicine for Space Flight. Springer, New York, NY https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9889-0_27
    2. Wotring V. (2018) Space Pharmacology: How Space Affects Pharmacology. In: Hock F., Gralinski M. (eds) Drug Discovery and Evaluation: Methods in Clinical Pharmacology. Springer, Cham.
    3. Keyser KT, Wotring VE, Strang CE. The Role of Acetylcholine and Its Receptors in Retinal Processing. In Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology, Elsevier, 2017. ISBN 9780128093245
    4. Wotring VE. Monitoring Physiology During Spaceflight in Sensing Technologies for Global Health, Military Medicine, and Environmental Monitoring IV (Proceedings of SPIE) Eds Sarka O. Southern, Mark A. Mentzer, Isaac Rodriguez-Chavez, 2014.
    5. Wotring VE., Space Pharmacology in SpringerBriefs in Space Development Series, 2012.

Honors & Awards

  • 2022 Associate Fellowship, Aerospace Medicine Association
  • 2017 Abstract winner, Reproductive Health Research Day, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX
  • 2014 Select for Flight to the International Space Station by NASA Johnson Space Center’s Science Management Panel: Inflight Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Responses to Medications Commonly Used in Spaceflight
  • 2014 Select for Flight to the International Space Station by NASA Johnson Space Center’s Science Management Panel: Dose Tracker Application for Monitoring Crew Medication Usage, Symptoms, and Adverse Effects During Missions
  • 2013 Mentor of the Year, NASA Career Exploration Program
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