TAMEST Member News Roundup – July 2023
TAMEST loves to share the accolades of our membership. If you have been nominated for an award, been interviewed by the media or otherwise have a reason to celebrate, please share your news with TAMEST.
TAMEST In The News
Houston Chronicle: Opinion: President DesRoches: The Supreme Court Won’t Derail Diversity at Rice, TAMEST Member Reginald DesRoches, Ph.D. (NAE), Rice University
Houston Public Media: Have Smartphones Made Our Lives Better or Worse?, TAMEST Member Moshe Y. Vardi, Ph.D. (NAE, NAS, FRS), Rice University
The National: Why Cancer is More Aggressive in Men, TAMEST Member Ronald A. DePinho, M.D. (NAM, NAS), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
KBTX: Experts Feeling Confident Power Grid Will Hold Up During the Summer, TAMEST Member Thomas J. Overbye, Ph.D. (NAE), Texas A&M University
The American Society of Hematology: ASH Announces the 2023 Honorific Award Recipients, TAMEST Member Helen Heslop, M.D., D.Sc. (NAM), Baylor College of Medicine
The Daily Texan: UT Joins Research Alliance to Cut Out Carbon Dioxide from Manufacturing, TAMEST Member Brian A. Korgel, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin
Member Briefs
The Kavli Prize 2024: Invitation to Nominate
Nominations are now open for the Kavli Prize, honoring scientists for breakthroughs in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience — transforming our understanding of the big, the small and the complex. The prize consists of $1 million awards in each of the three fields. Nominations may be submitted through October 1, 2023, at the Kavli Prize website. Read More
Activate Opens Science Fellowships in Texas
Activate has expanded its immersive two-year fellowship for science entrepreneurs with the launch of its newest community in Houston. The fellowship clears the path for promising entrepreneurial scientists to quickly and effectively bring their groundbreaking research to market. An information session takes place Wednesday, August, 16. Read More
UTEP Receives NIH Grant to Build Institutional Culture and Address Health Equity
TAMEST Member Institution The University of Texas at El Paso has begun implementation of a new institutional-level effort to address Hispanic health disparities and create a pipeline of faculty who represent a full range of talent in biomedical research. The work is supported by a new $15.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) program. Read More
DNA Test Could Broaden Access to Cervical Cancer Screening
Bioengineers including TAMEST Member Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum, Ph.D. (NAE, NAS), Rice University, have demonstrated a low-cost, point-of-care DNA test for HPV infections that could make cervical cancer screening more accessible in low- and middle-income countries where the disease kills more than 300,000 women each year. Read More
Mary F. Wheeler Medal Established by US Association for Computational Mechanics
The U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM) has established the Mary F. Wheeler Medal, in recognition of TAMEST Member Mary F. Wheeler, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin, for her outstanding and sustained contributions to interdisciplinary and emerging areas including earth, environmental and energy sciences (EEES). The first award will be made in 2025. Read More
UTSW Researchers Report Progress in Malaria Treatments
With new cases of malaria being reported in Texas and Florida, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center including TAMEST Members Margaret Phillips, Ph.D. (NAS) and Joseph Takahashi, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), continue to explore compounds for more effective drug-resistant therapies and biological targets to interfere with the parasites that spread the potentially fatal disease. Their research focuses on identifying and characterizing vulnerable metabolic pathways in parasitic protozoa that carry the disease with the goal of developing new drugs for malaria as well as neglected tropical diseases such as African sleeping sickness. Read More
Gene That Regulates Immune Activity in the Retina Identified
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers including TAMEST Member and Nobel Laureate Bruce A. Beutler, M.D. (NAM, NAS), have identified a gene called Lipe that appears to be pivotal to retinal health, with mutations spurring immune activation and retinal degeneration. This is important because the retina is responsible for detecting the light that is transformed into vision. The findings, published in Communications Biology, provide clues about the mechanisms behind a variety of disorders affecting the retina, including macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Read More
Dr. Sean Morrison Elected to European Molecular Biology Organization
TAMEST Member Sean J. Morrison, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been elected by his peers as an associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). Dr. Morrison studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cell function and the role these mechanisms play in cancer. Read More
Cellular Process That Fuels Plant Growth Yields Surprising Insights
A new study by Rice University bioscientists including TAMEST Board Member Bonnie Bartel, Ph.D. (NAS), explains how basic cellular structures common to most life forms collaborate to fuel growth in a model plant organism. The findings could shed light on corresponding mechanisms in human cells. Read More
