San Diego student develops red-light therapy to help heal wounds in space

Fan built her own $200 device instead of using NASA’s $50,000 clinostat. (Society for science photo) Leanne Fan, an 18-year-old student from San Diego, has been named a finalist in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search for her research into wound healing in space. Her project looks at whether red light therapy can help wounds heal when gravity is greatly reduced.According to the organisers of the talent hunt, Fan, a student at Westview High School, studied how wounds respond to photobiomodulation, a technique that uses red or near-infrared light to trigger biological effects. Her research focused on a problem that could become important during future space missions, where astronauts may have limited access to medical care.Wounds can heal more slowly in space because tissues do not experience the same mechanical loading caused by gravity. To study this, Fan built a device that could simulate microgravity on Earth. The device continuously rotates along two axes, preventing gravity from acting on the wound sample in only one direction.Fan developed her own version of the device rather than using a NASA clinostat, which costs about $50,000. Her device cost around $200. She then used...