The Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing at the University of Florida has selected a research paper authored by Maddalena Parafati, Ph.D., research assistant professor of cellular and systems pharmacology in the UF College of Pharmacy, to receive support through its Research Promotion Initiative. The competitive program provides a $1,000 award to recognized projects that spotlight impactful research efforts across the university.

In her laboratory work, Dr. Parafati engineers three-dimensional, donor-derived bioengineered myobundles housed within a muscle tissue chip designed for microgravity studies.

Contributing specialized expertise, Parafati played an integral role in a multidisciplinary investigation led by Siobhan Malany, Ph.D., associate professor of cellular and systems pharmacology. The project focuses on developing innovative translational models of muscle biology and degeneration, including research platforms enabled for spaceflight experimentation.

Parafati’s study, titled “Microgravity accelerates skeletal muscle degeneration: Functional and transcriptomic insights from an ISS muscle lab-on-chip model,” was published in Stem Cell Reports and examines the effects of microgravity on skeletal muscle tissue. The research utilized three-dimensional bioengineered skeletal muscle tissues cultured within an autonomous laboratory platform aboard the International Space Station to model tissue degeneration under spaceflight conditions.

Following flight, tissue samples were preserved for post-flight analyses, including transcriptomic profiling, protein assessments, and extracellular vesicle characterization. The findings demonstrate that microgravity accelerates skeletal muscle degeneration in an age-dependent manner, disrupting mitochondrial integrity and bioenergetic regulation while reducing contractile performance. The study also identifies electrical stimulation as a potential countermeasure to mitigate microgravity-induced muscle decline.