Janice Meck

Janice Valerie Meck (born 1948, also published as Jan Meck, Janice M. Sprenkle, Janice M. Fritsch, Janice M. Yelle, and Janice M. Fritsch-Yelle) is an American physiologist and an expert on the effects of zero gravity on the cardiovascular system, including cardiac rhythm problems during spaceflight, and spaceflight-induced orthostatic intolerance and its treatment. ^[1]

Education and career

Meck is originally from Virginia, ^[2] where she was born in 1948. ^[3] After a 1969 bachelor's degree from Michigan State University, ^{[3] [4]} and 11 years out of school raising a child, ^[5] Meck received a master's degree in biology from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1982, ^{[4] [5]} and became a researcher there in cardiovascular physiology. There, her work included joint research with NASA, and she moved to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in 1991. ^[5]

She directed the NASA Cardiovascular Laboratory from 1992 to 2007, ^[6] while working towards a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Texas Medical Branch, ^[6] which she received in 2000 ^[5] with the dissertation Influence of gender on individual susceptibility to orthostatic hypotension. ^[3] After stepping down as director of the laboratory she became a human health countermeasures element scientist at the Johnson Space Center. ^[6]

Meck retired from NASA, and moved to Richmond, Virginia in 2011. ^[7] There, she has worked at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center ^[8] and as a docent at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. ^[2] She coauthored a book about Emily Winfree, a former slave and freedwoman in Richmond: The Life and Legacy of Enslaved Virginian Emily Winfree (Arcadia Publishing, 2021, with Virginia Refo). ^{[9] [7]}

Recognition

Meck received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2000, ^[10] and the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement in 2001. ^[5] Virginia Commonwealth University gave her their Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998, ^[3] and named her as an "alumni star" in 2001. ^[5] She was named as an honorary member of Graduate Women in Science in 2008. ^[11]

Selected research publications

• Sprenkle, J. M.; Eckberg, D. L.; Goble, R. L.; Schelhorn, J. J.; Halliday, H. C. (February 1986), "Device for rapid quantification of human carotid baroreceptor-cardiac reflex responses", Journal of Applied Physiology, 60 (2): 727–732, doi:10.1152/jappl.1986.60.2.727
• Fritsch, J. M.; Charles, J. B.; Bennett, B. S.; Jones, M. M.; Eckberg, D. L. (August 1992), "Short-duration spaceflight impairs human carotid baroreceptor-cardiac reflex responses", Journal of Applied Physiology, 73 (2): 664–671, doi:10.1152/jappl.1992.73.2.664
• Fritsch-Yelle, J. M.; Charles, J. B.; Jones, M. M.; Beightol, L. A.; Eckberg, D. L. (October 1994), "Spaceflight alters autonomic regulation of arterial pressure in humans", Journal of Applied Physiology, 77 (4): 1776–1783, doi:10.1152/jappl.1994.77.4.1776
• Fritsch-Yelle, Janice M.; Whitson, Peggy A.; Bondar, Roberta L.; Brown, Troy E. (November 1996), "Subnormal norepinephrine release relates to presyncope in astronauts after spaceflight", Journal of Applied Physiology, 81 (5), American Physiological Society: 2134–2141, doi:10.1152/jappl.1996.81.5.2134
• McCarthy, John P.; Bamman, Marcas M.; Yelle, Janice M.; LeBlanc, Adrian D.; Rowe, Roger M.; Greenisen, Michael C.; Lee, Stuart M. C.; Spector, Elisabeth R.; Fortney, Suzanne M. (June 1997), "Resistance exercise training and the orthostatic response", European Journal of Applied Physiology, 76 (1): 32–40, doi:10.1007/s004210050209
• Meck, Janice V.; Waters, Wendy W.; Ziegler, Michael G.; deBlock, Heidi F.; Mills, Paul J.; Robertson, David; Huang, Paul L. (April 2004), "Mechanisms of postspaceflight orthostatic hypotension: low α1-adrenergic receptor responses before flight and central autonomic dysregulation postflight", American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 286 (4): H1486 –H1495, doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00740.2003

References

1. "Standing up to Gravity: Drug Shows Promise as Treatment for Orthostatic Intolerance in Astronauts" (PDF), Space Life Sciences Research Highlights, NASA, October 2003, retrieved 2025-03-20
2. Author biography from Publisher web page for The Life and Legacy of Enslaved Virginian Emily Winfree, accessed 2025-03-20
3. Yelle, Janice M. (2000), Influence of gender on individual susceptibility to orthostatic hypotension (PhD thesis), University of Texas Medical Branch, ProQuest   304654047 ; see vita, pp. 85–91.
4. Virginia Commonwealth University Commencement Program, May 14, 1983, p. 16, retrieved 2025-03-20; listed as Sprenkle, Janice Valerie Meck
5. "Alumni star", 2001–2002 Annual Report, Virginia Commonwealth University College of Humanities and Sciences, p. 38, retrieved 2025-03-20– via Yumpu
6. Author biography from Arai, Tatsuya; Lee, Kichang; Stenger, Michael B.; Platts, Steven H.; Meck, Janice V.; Cohen, Richard J. (April 2011), "Preliminary application of a novel algorithm to monitor changes in pre-flight total peripheral resistance for prediction of post-flight orthostatic intolerance in astronauts", Acta Astronautica, 68 (7–8), Elsevier BV: 770–777, doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2010.10.008
7. Lohmann, Bill (February 27, 2022), "Once Enslaved, Emily Winfree Left a Cottage and a Legacy", Richmond Times-Dispatch, retrieved 2025-03-20– via NBC Washington
8. "Meck, Janice Fritsch- Yelle", NASA Life Sciences Portal, NASA, retrieved 2025-03-20
9. Liles, Phil (December 6, 2023), "Winfree Cottage: Insights into a Black freedwoman's life after the Civil War", VPM News, retrieved 2025-03-20
10. Augustynowicz, Karolina (October 25, 2000), "Clinton Names 59 Recipients of Early Awards for Scientists and Engineers", The Chronicle of Higher Education, retrieved 2025-03-20
11. Honorary members, Graduate Women in Science, retrieved 2025-03-20