TAMEST Member News Roundup – January 2025

TAMEST In The News

Dallas Innovates: TAMEST, Lyda Hill Philanthropies Announce 2025 Hill Prizes, 2025 TAMEST Hill Prizes Recipients

KXAN: UT Scientist Selected for National Inventors Hall of Fame for Work on COVID, RSV Vaccines, 2022 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Medicine Recipient Jason McLellan, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin

Center Times Plus: Biomedical Engineering Symposium Reveals How Rapid Advances in Technology are Transforming Medicine, TAMEST 2025 Kay Bailey Hutchison Distinguished Service Award Recipient Lyda Hill Philanthropies, TAMEST 2025 Annual Conference Co-Chair Samuel Achilefu, Ph.D. (NAM) and TAMEST 2023 Annual Conference Speaker Daniel J. Siegwart, Ph.D., UT Southwestern Medical Center

Earth: Light-Activated Molecules Kill Cancer Cells with Precision, TAMEST Member James M. Tour, Ph.D. (NAE), Rice University

KXAN: Advisor Named to CVAUSA, Dr. Mark McClellan, TAMEST Member Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), The University of Texas at Austin

MYSA: Semiconductor Company AMD Plans $163M Austin Expansion, TAMEST Member Lisa T. Su, Ph.D. (NAE), AMD

Dallas Innovates: SMU Researchers’ ‘Lab-on-a-Chip’ Test Earns $100K Grant, TAMEST 2025 Kay Bailey Hutchison Distinguished Service Award Recipient Lyda Hill Philanthropies

KERA: ‘Unprecedented’ $60M Education Gift will Help Dallas County Students Earn Living Wage, The O’Donnell Foundation

Austin American-Statesman: The University of Texas Names New Provost, Executive Vice President, The University of Texas at Austin

Member Briefs

2025 NAS Awards Recipients Announced

The National Academy of Sciences honored 20 individuals with awards recognizing their extraordinary scientific achievements in a wide range of fields spanning the physical, biological, social and medical sciences. TAMEST Member Peter G. Wolynes, Ph.D. (NAS, FRS), Rice University, will receive the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences for breakthrough contributions that enhance our understanding of protein structure dynamics and function. Read More

Big Recommendations for Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos

Cancer is a big health issue for Latinos and all people. That’s why TAMEST Member Amelie Ramirez, Dr.P.H. (NAM), UT Health San Antonio, Director of Salud America! and the Institute for Health Promotion Research, partnered with the Mays Cancer Center to create the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos (ASCL) biennial conference. Read More

AI Health Care Innovator Will Lead Computational Medicine Research at UT

The inventor of the most widely adopted artificial intelligence technology in United States health care is joining The University of Texas at Austin. The hire comes a year and a half after The University of Texas System announced an ambitious plan to establish an academic medical center in Austin, the largest United States city without one. TAMEST Member Charles “Charley” Taylor, Ph.D. (NAE), an internationally recognized leader in artificial intelligence, machine learning and digital twin technology, will lead a new Center for Computational Medicine at UT Austin. Read More

Dedicating a ‘Place of Firsts’

It is being celebrated as “a place of firsts.” On Nov. 13, UT Health San Antonio proudly dedicated a new $472 million UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital in front of leaders from The University of Texas System, UT Health San Antonio and Mays Cancer Center, as well as donors, elected officials and other distinguished guests. The new hospital will be the only facility of its kind in South Texas where patients will have access to therapies and expertise unavailable elsewhere, including access to top specialists and pioneering therapies, especially in cancer treatment. Read More

Research Sparks Prevention Techniques for Wildfires and Outages

Fires can start in 10s of milliseconds, and approximately 10% of wildfires are started by something related to the power system. For over 30 years, researchers in the Power System Automation Laboratory in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, including TAMEST Member B. Don Russell, Ph.D. (NAE), have been studying ways to monitor electric power lines for faults and failures to correct those conditions before an outage, fire or catastrophic failure occurs. In that time, they have conducted several projects to enhance their Distribution Fault Anticipation (DFA) system. Read More

Rice Researchers Take ‘Significant Leap Forward’ with Quantum Simulation of Molecular Electron Transfer

Researchers at Rice University, including TAMEST Members Peter G. Wolynes, Ph.D. (NAS, FRS) and Jose Onuchic, Ph.D. (NAS), have made a meaningful advance in the simulation of molecular electron transfer — a fundamental process underpinning countless physical, chemical and biological processes. The study, published in Science Advances, details the use of a trapped-ion quantum simulator to model electron transfer dynamics with unprecedented tunability, unlocking new opportunities for scientific exploration in fields ranging from molecular electronics to photosynthesis. Read More

Associate Research VP Tapped for National Leadership

Jeremy Forsberg, Associate Vice President of Research and Innovation at The University of Texas at Arlington, has been named to chair a leadership committee within the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), the national authority on federal policies and regulations affecting research institutions in the United States. Read More

Image of the Month: Astrocytes, Neurons and Memory

The lab of TAMEST 2024 O’Donnell Award in Medicine Recipient Benjamin Deneen, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine, has a long history of studying astrocytes and their interactions with neurons. He and his colleagues have found that astrocytes and neurons interact closely with each other, both physically and functionally, and that this is essential for proper brain function. The Image of the Month reveals such interactions in the context of memory. Read More

Texas Biomed Global Health Symposium 2025

Texas Biomed will host its 2025 Global Health Symposium at the San Antonio Botanical Garden and online on March 27-28. The event, Biomedical Science in the Era of AI & Big Tech, will be a convergence of some of the world’s greatest minds in science, discovery, tech and education, with featured speakers, Chelsea Clinton and former FDA Commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from more than 70 speakers as they take the stage to discuss the most urgent issues of our time. Register by January 31 for discounted early bird rates. Read More

Taylor Eighmy Named as Acting President of UT Health San Antonio, Effective February 1, 2025

Chancellor James B. Milliken announced the appointment of Taylor Eighmy, Ph.D., as Acting President of UT health San Antonio effective February 1, 2025. Dr. Eighmy will concurrently continue serving as President of The University of Texas at San Antonio. The UT System Board of Regents previously announced that Dr. Eighmy will become the first President of the integrated new university (UTSA and UT Health San Antonio) pending a successful review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in summer 2025. The merger is set to be finalized by September 1, 2025, with full operational integration expected to take up to three years. Read More