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Steven Boone stands alongside a research poster he helped author. The motor neuron disease aspect of the poster is also related to the work he will do for NASA as a research fellow.
In this photo: Steven Boone stands alongside a research poster he helped author. The motor neuron disease aspect of the poster is also related to the work he will do for NASA as a research fellow.
On Campus

Neuroscience graduate student awarded NASA fellowship

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Steven M. Boone, a DSU molecular and cellular neuroscience graduate student, has been enlisted by NASA to study the issue of muscle atrophy such as the degeneration that astronauts experience on long missions in space.

Mr. Boone of Middletown has been awarded a NASA Delaware Space Grant Graduate Fellowship to conduct the research over the next year.

His research will study motor neuron disease in mice, which he believes exhibits mechanistic changes that mimic some aspects of extended exposure to the microenvironment of outer space. Mr. Boone’s research aims at understanding the pathogenesis and protective pathways associated with muscle degeneration that may translate to protecting astronauts exposed to long-term space missions.

A graduate of Middletown High School, Mr. Boone earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wilmington University in 2014 and a master’s degree in human services in 2016.

“I have always been interested in the brain,” Mr. Boone said, explaining why he decided to work toward a neuroscience-related master’s degree at DSU. The graduate student added that he is still exploring what his ultimate aspiration will be.