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April E. Ronca, Ph.D.

April E. Ronca

Senior Scientist

Contents

Phone: (650) 604-3595
Email: April.E.Ronca@nasa.gov
Affiliation: Space Biosciences Research Branch

Professional Biography

April E. Ronca, Ph.D. is a scientist in the Space Biosciences Research Branch and Adjunct Professor Obstetrics & Gynecology and jointly, Neurobiology & Anatomy, Molecular Medicine & Translational Science, and the Center for Biomolecular Imaging at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She leads the Neurobehavior and Sex Differences Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center. Dr. Ronca has published over 90 peer-reviewed publications and has been awarded grant funding from NASA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Ronca was an investigator on two spaceflight experiments (NIH.R1 and NIH.R2), jointly sponsored by NIH and NASA, the first in which pregnant mammals were flown on the NASA Space Shuttle. Her work has been featured on the Science Discovery Channel, and the History Channel Universe segment on ‘Sex in Space’. Dr. Ronca is presently Associate for the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), and Past President of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), and the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP). She has been honored with the ASGSR Thora W. Halstead Young Investigator Award (2004), the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal (2004), the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2016), and the ASGSR Presidential Award (2016). Dr. Ronca has served on numerous federal review panels and working groups, including the National Academy of Sciences Animal and Human Biology Panel for the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space and the NIH Biobehavioral Regulation, Learning and Ethology Study Section. From 2009-2013, Dr. Ronca was Director of the Women’s Health Center of Excellence Research Program at Wake Forest School of Medicine, a position through which she established new translational research initiatives in sex/gender biomedicine. In 2013, she Co-Chaired the NASA Headquarters Review on the Role of Sex/Gender in Adaptation to Spaceflight: Reproduction, coincident with the first NASA Astronaut Class (2013) comprised of equal numbers of men and women. She Co-Chaired the Rodent Habitat Workshop Mark III to Support Multigenerational Studies in Space held at NASA Ames Research Center (2013). She serves on the Editorial Boards for Gravitational & Space Research, Life Sciences in Space Research, and Developmental Psychobiology, and was Co- Guest Editor for the Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Special Issue on Fifty Years of Space Neurosciences, and the Frontiers in Physiology Special issue on Women in in Space Physiology (2022-2023).

Education

B.S., Psychology, Ohio State University
M.A., Animal Cognition and Learning, Ohio State University
Ph.D., Neuroscience, Ohio State University
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Developmental Neuroscience and Behavior, Indiana University

Research Interests

Dr. Ronca’s research focuses on reproduction, neurodevelopment and sex differences in Space and on Earth. Many of her studies involve mammalian pregnancy, birth and the transition from prenatal to postnatal life emphasizing early sensory experience, epigenetics, sex differences, and the prenatal origins of neurodevelopmental disorders. Her translational approach combines neurobiological, biochemical, epigenetic, neural imaging and behavioral analyses to elucidate effects of perinatal environment on later life phenotypes. Her lab also investigates behavioral and physiological responses of rodents flown on the International Space Station (ISS). Recent work is focused on adult rodent sex differences in brain oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and behavior/cognition following exposure to simulated microgravity, simulated low dose space radiation, and isolation, studies with the goal of informing crew health during future deep space missions.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8821-1299

Select Publications

Books

  1. Ronca AE, Souza KA, Mains RC (Eds) Translational cell and animal research in space: 1965-2011. NASA,/SP-2015-625, 2016.

Invited Chapters and Reviews

  1. Ronca AE. Mammalian development in space. H.J. Marthy (Ed.) Adv Space Biol Med, Vol. 9, Development in Space, Netherlands: Elsevier, 2003.
  2. Ronca AE.  Studies toward mammalian birth and development in space. Advances in Space Research, 32, 1383-1390, 2003.
  3. Ronca AE, Wade CE, Plaut K. Relationship between gravity and mammary metabolism. Comments on Theoretical Biology, 8, 1-16, 2003.
  4. Alberts JR, Ronca AE. Development as adaptation: A paradigm for gravitational and space biology. In G Sonnenfeld (Ed) Adv Space Biol Med, Vol. 10, Experimentation with animal models in space, Netherlands: Elsevier, 2005.
  5. Ronca AE. Developmental space biology of mammals: Concepts and methods of study. In PM Conn (Ed) Sourcebook of Models for Biomedical Research, New Jersey: Humana Press, 2008.
  6. Ronca AE, Alwood JS, Globus RK, Souza KS. Mammalian Reproduction and Development on the International Space Station (ISS): Proceedings of the Rodent Mark III Habitat Workshop. Gravit Space Res, 2013 Oct 31;1(1):107-123.
  7. Ronca AE, Baker ES, Bavendam TG, Beck KD, Miller VM, Tash JS, Jenkins M. Effects of sex and gender on adaptation to space: Reproductive considerations. J Women’s Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov 23(11):967-74. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2014.4915.
  8. Ronca AE, Alberts JR. Fetal and birth experiences: Proximate effects, developmental consequences, epigenetic legacies. In NN Reissland, BS Kisilevsky (Eds), Advancing Research on Fetal Development, Springer U.K., Springer U.K., 2016.
  9. Alwood JS, Ronca AE, Mains RC, Shelhamer MJ, Smith JD, Goodwin TJ. From the bench to exploration medicine: NASA life sciences translational research for human exploration and habitation missions. NPJ Micrograv. 2017 Jan 12;3:5. doi: 10.1038/s41526-016-0002-8.
  10. Mhatre SD, Iyer J, Puukila S, Paul AM, Tahimic CGT, Rubinstein L, Lowe M, Alwood JS, Sowa MB, Bhattacharya S, Globus RK, Ronca AE. Neuro-consequences of the spaceflight environment. Neurosci Biobehav Rev Special issue on Fifty Years of Space Neurosciences. 2022 Jan;132:908-935. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.055
  11. Ronca AE, Lowe MG. Rodents as a model for research in space. In Y Pathak, M Araújo dos Santos, L Zea (Eds) Handbook of space pharmaceuticals: Model organisms for pharmaceutical research in space, Springer Nature, Switzerland, 2022.

Journal Articles (representative, selected list of over 85 peer-reviewed papers)

  1. Ronca AE, Abel RA Alberts JR. Perinatal stimulation and adaptation of the neonate. Acta Pediatr. 415, 8-15, 1996.
  2. Abel RA, Ronca AE, Alberts JR. Perinatal stimulation facilitates suckling onset in newborn rats. Dev Psychobiol. 32 (2), 91-99, 1998.
  3. Ronca AE, Alberts JR. Physiology of a Microgravity Environment Selected Contribution: Effects of spaceflight during pregnancy on labor and birth at 1 G. J Appl Physiol. 89 (2), 849-854, 2000.
  4. Ronca AE, Alberts JR. Effects of prenatal spaceflight on vestibular responses in neonatal rats. J Appl Physiol, 89:4, 2318-2324, 2000.
  5. Tou J, Grindeland RE, Ronca AE, Wade CE. Review: Effects of gravity on mammalian reproduction. Biol Reprod. 67:1681-1687, 2002.
  6. Burden HW, Zary JT, Hodson CA, Gregory H, Baer LA, Ronca AE. Effects of hypergravity during pregnancy on ovarian-hypophyseal function. Av Space Envir Med. 74 (2), 110-114, 2003.
  7. Plaut K, Maple R, Baer LA, Wade CE, Ronca AE. Mammary to metabolic function: Gravity acts as a continuum. J Appl Physiol. 95 (6), 2350-2354, 2003.
  8. Ronca AE, Rushing L, Tou J, Wade CE, Baer LA. Centrifugation effects on estrous cycle, mating success and pregnancy outcome. J Gravit Physiol. 12(1), P183-184. 2005.
  9. Ronca AE, Fritzsch B, Bruce LL, Alberts JR. Orbital spaceflight during pregnancy shapes form and function of mammalian vestibular system. Behav Neurosc. 122(1), 224-232, 2008.
  10. Kleven GA, Ronca, AE. Prenatal behavior of the C57BL/6J mouse: A promising model for human fetal movement during early to mid-gestation, Devel Psychobiol. 51(1):84-94, 2009.
  11. Ronca AE, Tulbert CD, Baer LA. Increased intrauterine pressure (IUP) magnitude during labor at 1.5-g revealed by telemetry in freely moving pregnant rats, Gravit Space Biol, 26(1):50-54, 2012.
  12. Casey T, Zakrzewska EI, Maple R, Lintault L, Baer LA, Wade CE, Ronca AE*, Plaut K.* Hypergravity exposure during pregnancy disrupts homeorhetic adaptations in tissue metabolism necessary for successful lactation in rat dams. Biol Open. 1;570-581, 2012. doi: 10.1242/bio.2012687 *equal contributors
  13. Alberts JR, Ronca AE. Invited: The experience of being born: A natural context for learning to suckle.International Journal of Pediatrics Special Issue on Development of Oral Feeding Skills. Article ID 129328, 2012. doi:10.1155/2012/129328
  14. Morgan JJ, Kleven GA, Tulbert CD, Olson J, Horita DA, Ronca AE. Longitudinal 1H MR spectroscopic analysis of forebrain neurometabolic profiles from infancy to adulthood reveals distinct changes in adolescence. Nucl Magn Reson Biomed 2013 Jan 16. doi: 10.1002/nbm.2913.
  15. Kleven GA, Priyanka J, Voogd M, Ronca AE. Prenatal dopaminergic-dependent behavioral development in the Pitx3 mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, European Journal of Neuroscience. 2013 37(10):1564-72. doi: 10.1111/ejn.12184.
  16. Kleven GA, Booth HM, Voogd M, Ronca AE. L-Dopa reverses behavioral deficits in the Pitx3 mouse fetus. Behav Neurosci. 2014 Dec 128(6):749-59. doi: 10.1037/bne0000016.
  17. Blaze J, Asok A, Tulbert C, Bollinger J, Ronca A*, Roth TL*. Intrauterine exposure to maternal stress alters Bdnf DNA methylation and telomere length in adult rat brain. Int J Dev Neurosci Special Issue on Transgenerational aspects of nervous system epigenetics, 2017 62:56-6. *equal contributions
  18. Stellar JG, Alberts JR, Ronca AE. Invited: Oxidative stress as cause, consequence, or biomarker of altered reproduction and development in the space environment. Int J Molec Sci, 2018, 19 (12), 3729; doi:10.3390/ijms19123729.
  19. Ronca AE, Moyer E, Talyansky Y, Padmanabhan S, Choi S, Gong C, Cadena S, Stodieck L, Globus RK. Behavior of female mice aboard the ISS, Sci Rep Special Issue on Gravitational Biology and Space Medicine, 2019 Apr 11;9(1):4717. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40789-y. Selected Sci Rep 2019 Top 100 (ranked #25) Neuroscience Papers Collection.
  20. Tahimic CGT, Paul AM, Schreurs A-S, Torres S, Rubinstein L, Steczina S, Lowe M, Bhattacharya S, Alwood J, Ronca AE, Globus RK. Influence of social isolation during prolonged simulated weightlessness by hindlimb unloading. Front Physiol: Environ, Aviat Space Physiol, 2019 Sep. 13;10:1147. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01147.
  21. Choi S, Saravia-Butler A, Shirazi-Fard Y, Leveson-Gower D, Stodieck LS, Cadena SM, Beegle J, Solis S, Ronca AE, Globus RK. Validation of a new rodent experimental system to investigate consequences of long duration space habitation. Sci Rep Special Issue on Gravitational Biology and Space Medicine, 2020;10(1):2336. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-58898-4.
  22. Hong X, Ratri A, Choi SY, Tash JS, Ronca AE, Alwood JS, Christenson LK. Effects of spaceflight aboard the International Space Station on mouse estrous cycle and ovarian gene expression, npgMicrograv, 2021 Mar 12;7(1):11. doi: 10.1038/s41526-021-00139-7.
  23. Rubinstein L, Paul AM, Houseman C, Abegaz M, Tabares Ruiz S, O’Neil N, Kunis G, Ofir R, Cohen J, Ronca AE, Globus RK, Tahimic CGT. Placenta-Expanded Stromal Cell Therapy in a Rodent Model of Simulated Weightlessness. Cells, 2021 Apr 19;10(4):940. doi: 10.3390/cells10040940.
  24. Rubinstein L, Schreurs AS, Torres SM, Steczina S, Lowe MG, Kiffer F, Allen AR, Ronca AE, Sowa MB, Globus RK, Tahimic CGT. Overexpression of catalase in mitochondria mitigates changes in hippocampal cytokine expression following simulated microgravity and isolation. npgMicrograv, 2021 Jul 6;7(1):24. doi: 10.1038/s41526-021-00152-w.
  25. Grago-Ferrante R, Di Fiore R, Karouia F, Subbannayya Y, Das S, Aydogan Mathyk B, Arif S, Guevara-Cerdán AP, Seylani A, Galsinh AS, Kukulska W, Borg J, Suleiman S, Porterfield M, Camera A, Christenson L, Ronca A, Steller J, Beheshti A, Calleja-Agius J. Extraterrestrial gynecology: Could spaceflight increase the risk of developing cancer in female astronauts? An updated review. Intl J Molec Sci, 2022; 23(13):7465. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23137465
  26. Puukila S, Siu O, Rubinstein L, Tahimic CGT, Lowe M, Tabares Ruiz S, Korostenskij I, Semel M, Iyer J, Mhatre SD, Shirazi-Fard Y, Alwood JS, Paul AM, Ronca AE. Galactic cosmic irradiation alters acute and delayed species-typical behavior in male and female mice. Life (Basel), 2023. doi: 10.3390/life13051214.
  27. Burke M, Wong K, Talyansky Y, Mhatre S, Mitchell C, Juran C, Olson M, Iyer J, Puukila S, Tahimic C, Christenson L, Rubinstein L, Shirazi-Fard Y, Sowa M, Alwood J, Ronca A*, Paul A*. Sexual dimorphism during integrative endocrine and immune responses to ionizing radiation in mice. Sci Rep, 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33629-7. *corresponding authors

Investigator Team and Collaborations:

NASA Ames Research Center: Josh Alwood, PhD, Scientist, Janani S. Iyer, PhD, KBR/Wyle; Stephanie A. Puukila, PhD, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow; Steffy N. Tabares Ruiz, BS, Blue Marble Space Institute of Sciences; Yasaman Shirazi-Fard, PhD, Scientist