2013 Scientific Paper Award
Adam Sirek is a resident in family medicine at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, MI. In addition to his post-graduate training, he is an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force where he acts as a pilot and instructor. Adam obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the University of Toronto where he was involved with diabetes research and molecular biology, prior to obtaining his Medical degree. Adam and his wife currently live in Windsor, Ontario and he enjoys his international commute into Detroit on a daily basis.
In October 2012, he attended the NASA Johnson Space Center Aerospace Medicine Clerkship where he had the opportunity to work with researchers at Wyle and the JSC. His project there was to assess the viability of ultrasound as a modality to assess intracranial pressure in microgravity. NASA has identified the visual impairment and intracranial pressure (VIIP) syndrome as a “hot” topic and focused a great deal of time on determining whether long term exposure to microgravity leads to elevated intracranial pressures and detriment to humans in space. Adam’s project was to develop a measure of intracranial pressure in microgravity using ultrasound and to determine if there were significant changes in microgravity. This modality may lead to better protocols for mission ops and medical management in microgravity, and lead to potential terrestrial applications where conventional measurement of intracranial pressure (lumbar puncture or intra-ventricular probes) are contraindicated or not feasible.
