• to support the achievement of routine space travel and enrich life on Earth through the use of space technology and the application of biomedical knowledge;
  
• to improve the rates at which U.S. citizens who have been historically under-represented in NASA related fields are awarded advanced degrees in biomedical sciences;
  
• to foster the development of faculty members engaged in space-related biomedical research by providing scientific advisors, research funds, and opportunities for collaboration.

The space flight and gravitational biology research program at Morehouse School of Medicine is comprised of cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, cell biology, circadian rhythm, tissue technology, and signal transduction projects. Twelve faculty members conduct research relevant to gravity and space flight.

The Space Medicine and Life Sciences Research Center provides education and training to students and faculty at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels.

• Undergraduate students from the Atlanta University Center and other colleges and universities are given informal instruction in the theory and techniques involved in research relating to gravitational and space biology. After appropriate training in basic principles and techniques, students are integrated into selected research projects. They obtain experiences in experimental design and data analysis. Undergraduates work full-time during the summer and part-time during the academic year.
  
• Graduate students must complete the core and advanced course work required for the MSM graduate program. A program of advanced course work designed to support specialization in a particular area of biomedical sciences is required of each student.
  
• Postdoctoral fellows receive multidisciplinary research training. Support is provided for up to three years. Postdoctoral fellows select primary advisors from among the faculty research investigators involved in the core research program of the SMLSRC. Fellows develop a research project, design the details of each experimental protocol, carry out the experimentation, analyze the data, and serve as primary authors on the manuscripts generated.
  

The Morehouse School of Medicine is located in southwest Atlanta and is one of six schools in the Atlanta University Center. The Atlanta University Center is a consortium of independent institutions, which constitutes the largest predominantly black private educational complex in the United States.