(Oct 21, 2006)

Dr. Patricia Cowings was presented with the 2006 National Women of Color Technology Award for Research Leadership in Atlanta, GA on October 21, 2006. Dr. Cowings is a research psychologist and is the lead of the Psychophysiological Research Lab in the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames Research Center. For more than 20 years, Dr. Cowings has been responsible for planning and conducting research into space-induced physiological changes and developing non-medical countermeasures. Dr. Cowings is perhaps best known for her Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE) that is used to train people to monitor and voluntarily control a range of their own physiological responses to reduce symptoms of motion sickness and to improve orthostatic tolerance. The training has facilitated adaptation to space and re-adaptation to Earth for astronauts and cosmonauts, and has improved Coast Guard pilot performance in C-130 aircraft and multi-crew helicopters during search-and-rescue missions.