Cleveland Clinic opens Space Health Center

Cleveland Clinic said on April 29 that it had established a Space Health Center within its Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute in Ohio, creating a program focused on research, education and clinical care tied to space travel. The center is aimed specifically at cardiovascular health conditions encountered in space, according to the health system’s announcement. The move adds Cleveland Clinic to a small but growing group of medical institutions building programs around commercial and government human spaceflight. Social posts on May 23 helped recirculate the announcement, but the clinic said the center was formally launched in late April. ### When did Cleveland Clinic actually open the center? April 29, 2026, is the date Cleveland Clinic used in its news release announcing the Space Health Center. The center is housed in the Cleveland-based system’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute and is designed to combine research, education and patient care related to cardiovascular issues associated with space travel. (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org) May 23 social media posts did not mark a separate launch, based on the clinic’s published materials. They reflected renewed circulation of the earlier announcement. ### What is the center supposed to do? The Space Health Center said its work will center on three areas: studying how space travel affects cardiovascular function and health, educating medical and scientific audiences, and providing cardiovascular care for people traveling to space. (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org) Cleveland Clinic’s website says the program will also educate healthcare professionals, medical students and the public on the cardiovascular effects of spaceflight. Kenneth A. Mayuga, a cardiac electrophysiologist and the center’s director, said in the release that expanding space travel is bringing “new health challenges and risks associated with exposure to this extreme environment.” He said the clinic hopes to understand those challenges, address them and support people who travel to space, while using lessons from space-based research to help patients on Earth. (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org) ### Why is Cleveland Clinic focusing on the heart? Cleveland Clinic placed the new program inside its heart institute, not as a general aerospace medicine center. The clinic said the center will address cardiovascular health conditions related to space travel and research the effects of microgravity and space exposure on cardiovascular function. (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org) The clinic’s public page says students in its related education program will study the anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system, the changes that occur with exposure to space and microgravity, and the challenges astronauts face when returning to gravity. ### Who is involved in the program? (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org) Kenneth A. Mayuga is listed as director of the Space Health Center. Cleveland Clinic’s team page also names physicians and researchers including Steven Nissen, Rohit Moudgil, Ziad Taimeh, Erik Van Iterson, Tamanna Singh, Abdulla Damluji, Amar Krishnaswamy, Khaled Ziada, Patrick Collier, Bo Xu, Niraj Varma and Arwa Younis. (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org) The clinic also lists collaborations with NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Blue Abyss, the International Space University, Cleveland Clinic Research and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. ### What concrete projects are already attached to it? Cleveland Clinic said Mayuga recently received a grant from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the manager of the International Space Station National Laboratory, to work with the International Space University in France on an educational program. (my.clevelandclinic.org) The grant will fund a one-week course at Cleveland Clinic Research and the Lerner College of Medicine this summer, according to the release. Laurie Provin, director of strategic engagement and STEM programs for the ISS National Lab, said the lab was collaborating with Cleveland Clinic to help prepare “the space workforce of tomorrow.” Cleveland Clinic said the Space Medicine Education for STEM Inspiration project, or Space MedEd, will introduce doctoral students, medical students and postdoctoral scholars to space medicine and space-related careers. NASA Glenn is expected to provide guest lectures and host an on-site visit in Cleveland. (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org) ### What comes next? This summer is the next dated milestone in Cleveland Clinic’s rollout. The health system said the ISS National Lab-backed Space MedEd course will be held at Cleveland Clinic Research and the Lerner College of Medicine, with NASA Glenn Research Center participating through lectures and a site visit. (newsroom.clevelandclinic.org)