TAMEST Member News Roundup – October 2024

TAMEST In The News

KSAT: Health Advocate Says Education is Key as Latinos in South Texas Face Alarming Cancer Rates, TAMEST Member Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H. (NAM), UT Health San Antonio

TAMU Today: Chemist Marcetta Darensbourg Honored With Eminent Scholar Award, TAMEST Member Marcetta Y. Darensbourg, Ph.D. (NAS), Texas A&M University

Mind Matters: COSM: Ethernet Inventor Asks, Are We Ready for New IT Technology?, TAMEST Member Bob Metcalfe, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin

WCCFtech: Lisa Su Celebrates a Decade as Being AMD CEO; Transforming Team Red Into an Industry Leader, TAMEST Member Lisa T. Su, Ph.D. (NAE), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Texas Childrens: Steven Boeynaems Receives NIH Innovator Award of $2.4M, TAMEST 2023 Protégé Steven Boeynaems, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine

TAMU Today: Former Astronaut Aims to Inspire Next Generation of Scientists and Engineers, TAMEST Member Bonnie J. Dunbar, Ph.D. (NAE), Texas A&M University

Dallas Innovates: Dallas’ Pegasus Park Expands with New Bridge Labs to Support Biotech Growth, TAMEST Hill Prizes Funder Lyda Hill Philanthropies

MSN: EPA Puts $3.2M Into Biosolids Research in Texas, Texas A&M University

Member Briefs

Professor Nicholas Peppas Elected to European Academy of Sciences

TAMEST Member Nicholas A. Peppas, Sc.D. (NAM, NAS), The University of Texas at Austin, has been elected to the European Academy of Sciences. The European Academy of Sciences operates with the mission to promote excellence in science and technology and foster social and economic development and progress. Read More

Renowned Rice Chemist K.C. Nicolaou Aims to ‘Help Society’ Through Discovery

World-renowned organic chemist TAMEST Member Kyriacos Costa “K.C.” Nicolaou, Ph.D. (NAS, FRS), Rice University, a pioneer of total synthesis, has earned global recognition for his distinguished work in chemical synthesis, vital for advancements in medicine, materials science and chemical biology. Among his many accomplishments, he has synthesized nearly 200 naturally occurring molecules and contributed to advancements in cancer treatments and other areas of medicine. Read More

Guihua Yu Wins Falling Walls Engineering and Technology Award

2021 O’Donnell Award in Engineering Recipient Guihua Yu, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, has been honored for his work to generate clean, drinkable water using solar energy. Dr. Yu was selected as the “breakthrough of the year” in the engineering and technology category of this year’s Falling Walls Foundation Global Call. He was recognized for his work “breaking the wall of solar water sustainability,” through his research into hydrogel-based technologies that can pull drinking water from thin air. Read More

Scientists Create a Mouse Model That Faithfully Recapitulates Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms and Progression

Researchers at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine have recently made a major advance in neurodegenerative disease research and modeling. They have created a mouse model that recapitulates the early non-motor symptoms as well as the motor difficulties in Parkinson’s disease in a manner that directly mimics the condition in many patients. This research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by TAMEST Member Huda Y. Zoghbi, M.D. (NAM, NAS), Baylor College of Medicine. Read More

$7.5M DOD Grant Backs ‘Revolutionary’ Multi-University Research

A Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) project proposal led by TAMEST Member and TAMEST 2025 Annual Conference Speaker Naomi J. Halas, Ph.D., D.Sc. (NAE, NAS), Rice University, won $7.5 million over five years from the United States Department of Defense (DOD) Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). MURIs are some of the most competitive and sought-after academic research grants in the U.S. The awards support multidisciplinary teams of researchers tackling defense-related projects in areas of strategic importance to the DOD. Read More

Vincent Tagliabracci Receives ASBMB’s Stadtman Young Scholar Award

2024 O’Donnell Award in Biological Sciences Recipient Vincent Tagliabracci, Ph.D., UT Southwestern Medical Center, received the Earl and Thressa Stadtman Young Scholar Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). The award recognizes significant contributions to biochemistry and molecular biology by a scientist with less than 15 years of experience since earning a Ph.D. or M.D. Dr. Tagliabracci, who was nominated by TAMEST Member Eric N. Olson, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), is being honored for his lab’s discovery of diverse and unexpected biochemical activities performed by protein kinases, including AMPylation, polyglutamylation and messenger RNA capping. Read More

Allan MacDonald Named Citation Laureate

TAMEST Member and 2024 Hill Prize in Physical Sciences Recipient Allan H. MacDonald, Ph.D. (NAS), The University of Texas at Austin, was among only 22 exceptional scientists and economists named on the Citation Laureates™ 2024 list. Dr. MacDonald, who in 2020 won the Wolf Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work in a field known as twistronics, has led research that holds promise for new technologies important in energy and materials science. Read More

Dr. Peter Hotez to be Honored With Prestigious Winslow Medal

Yale University School of Public Health Dean Megan L. Ranney, M.D., announced that TAMEST Member Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), Baylor College of Medicine, has been selected as the 2024 recipient of the prestigious C.-E. A. Winslow Medal. This award honors individuals whose work embodies the ideals of C.-E. A. Winslow, the founder of the Yale School of Public Health and a pioneer of modern public health. Read More

Daniel J. Siegwart Appointed a NAM Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar

TAMEST 2023 Annual Conference Speaker Daniel J. Siegwart, Ph.D., UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been selected as a National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar. Read More

Computational Sciences Pioneer Mary Wheeler Retires

After an illustrious career spanning more than five decades in applied mathematics, computational science and petroleum engineering, TAMEST Member Mary F. Wheeler, Ph.D. (NAE), has retired from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Wheeler’s research in numerical simulation of partial differential equations and modeling in porous media — groundwater, biomedical, carbon storage — has been ground-breaking. Read More

Tsu-Jae King Liu Nominated to be Next National Academy of Engineering President

The Council of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has endorsed the NAE 2025 Nominating Committee’s recommendation of Tsu-Jae King Liu, Ph.D., Dean and Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, to stand as the sole candidate for the NAE presidency. NAE members will vote in March 2025 to elect a new NAE president to a six-year term beginning July 1. If elected, Dr. Liu will succeed President John L. Anderson, whose term will end June 30, 2025. Read More

27 UTEP Faculty Named World’s Top Researchers

Twenty-seven current faculty members from The University of Texas at El Paso have been ranked among the world’s most cited researchers. The prestigious Stanford-Elsevier ranking recognizes the top 2% of the most cited researchers within their respective fields. Read More

Town Hall Introduces UTSA President Taylor Eighmy, Provides Merger Information

A town hall discussion, Leadership Forum: One Vision | One Future, was held at UTSA to discuss the historic merger of UT Health San Antonio and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). It gave leaders from both institutions an opportunity to discuss the merger and take questions from the audience. They discussed UT Health San Antonio’s historic growth and plans for future expansion, like the UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital, opening Dec. 10, and the new Center for Brain Health. Also praised was the university’s many prestigious and impactful programs and centers. Read More