Meet the Sophic Team
Tacey Baker
Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Tacey is a certified Project Management Professional, Certified Scrum Master, and Prosci Change Management Practitioner. She received her B.S. in Biology from Texas A&M University and her MBA from Texas A&M-Commerce.
Tacey has over 30 years of experience in program/project oversight of technical personnel, enabling client success and positive change. She spent over 25 years at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, beginning her career doing three-dimensional tissue engineering with the NASA Rotating Bioreactor. Her experience quickly expanded into developing software and hardware requirements for Biotechnology flight hardware, writing procedures and training astronaut crews, and supporting Shuttle, Mir, and International Space Station missions for the NASA Biotechnology Program. Tacey also supported the Strategy and Innovation team within NASA’s Human Health and Performance Directorate. For the last seven years, Tacey has worked for Autodesk, Inc. leading consulting programs and project teams delivering high-value outcomes to global enterprise customers in Manufacturing, and Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries.
Authored or Co-Authored by Tacey Baker
- Changes in Gravity Inhibit Lymphocyte Locomotion Through Type I Collagen
- Establishment of a Three-Dimensional Human Prostate Organoid Coculture Under Microgravity-Simulated Conditions: Evaluation of Androgen-Induced Growth and PSA Expression
- Growth, Metabolic Activity and Recombinant Protein Expression for Fall Armyworm Ovary Cells Cultured in the NASA High-Aspect Ratio Vessel
- Microgravity Culture Reduces Apoptosis and Increases the Differentiation of a Human Colorectal Carcinoma Cell Line
- Reduced Shear Stress: A Major Component in the Ability of Mammalian Tissues to Form 3-Dimensional Assemblies in Simulated Microgravity
- Screening and Identification of Cryopreservative Agents for Human Cellular Biotechnology Experiments in Microgravity
- Three Dimensional Culture of Bovine Chondrocytes in Rotating-Wall Vessels
- Three Dimensional Growth and Differentiation of Ovarian Tumor Cell Line in High Aspect Rotating-Wall Vessel: Morphologic and Embryologic Considerations
- Three-Dimensional Modeling of T-24 Human Bladder Carcinoma Cell Line: A New Simulated Microgravity Vessel
Awards & Honors
Tacey Baker has earned wide-ranging recognition throughout her career for her contributions to NASA’s human spaceflight, biotechnology research, and mission operations.
Among her many honors, she received the prestigious Silver Snoopy, a highly selective award presented by NASA astronauts to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to crew safety and mission success, an achievement that reflects her trusted expertise and impact on human spaceflight.
In addition, she has earned numerous NASA Group Achievement and Special Space Flight Achievement Awards, along with extensive NASA Certificates of Recognition for pioneering innovations in 3D cell culture, tissue engineering, and bioprocessing, many of which were submitted as NASA Tech Briefs or formal inventions.
Her accomplishments are further supported by honors such as Wyle Awards for excellence and team performance and the KRUG Life Sciences Outstanding Employee Award, underscoring her longstanding dedication to advancing space science and mission operations.
Patents and NASA Tech Briefs
U.S. Patent 5,851,816 – Goodwin, T.J., Prewett, T.L., et al. Cultured High-Fidelity Three-Dimensional Human Urogenital Tract Carcinomas and Process. (1998)
U.S. Patent 5,637,477 – Spaulding, G.F., Goodwin, T.J., et al. Recombinant Protein Production and Insect Cell Culture and Process. (1997)
U.S. Patent 5,496,722 – Goodwin, T.J., Wolf, D.A., et al., Method for Producing Non-neoplastic, Three Dimensional Mammalian Tissue and Cell Aggregates Under Microgravity Culture Conditions and the Products Produced Therefrom. (1996)
MSC-22118-1: A Process for Three-Dimensional Culture of Mammalian Cartilage. (1995)
- MSC-22120-1: A Process for Developing High-Fidelity Three-Dimensional Tumor Models of Human Bladder Carcinoma. (1995)
- MSC‑21984-1: Cultured Normal Mammalian Tissue and Process. (1993)