TAMEST Member News Roundup – September 2024
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
KXAN: Texas Awards $60 Million in Cancer Research Grants, TAMEST 2024 Kay Bailey Hutchison Distinguished Service Award Recipient Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
D Magazine: Meet the Dallas 500: Sylvia Trent-Adams, UNTHSC at Fort Worth, The University of North Texas Health Science Center President Sylvia Trent-Adams, Ph.D. (NAM)
Houston Chronicle (Subscription Required): Houston Researchers Discover New Type of Cells That May Predict Brain Tumor Patients’ Prognosis, 2024 O’Donnell Award in Medicine Recipient Benjamin Deneen, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine
Science: Chemists Follow a Trail to Texas, 2020 O’Donnell Award in Engineering Recipient Jeffrey Rimer, Ph.D., University of Houston
Time: Lisa Su: The 100 Most Influential People in AI 2024, TAMEST Member Lisa T. Su, Ph.D. (NAE), AMD
D Magazine: UTSW’s Big Week: Medical Center Lands $36.5 Million to Fund Pediatric Campus and Cancer Research, UT Southwestern Medical Center President Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D. (NAM)
Phys.org: New Twist on Synthesis Technique Promises Sustainable Manufacturing, TAMEST Member James M. Tour, Ph.D. (NAE, FRS), Rice University
Texas Tribune: UT Dallas President Richard Benson to Step Down, The University of Texas at Dallas President Richard C. Benson, Ph.D.
Houston Chronicle: Mark Wallace, Longtime CEO at Texas Children’s Hospital, Announces Retirement, CEO of Texas Children’s Hospital Mark Wallace
Houston Chronicle: UTHealth Houston President to Step Down Once Successor is Appointed, UTHealth Houston President Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, M.D.
Member Briefs
Zhijian “James” Chen, Ph.D., Awarded the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award
TAMEST Member and 2007 O’Donnell Award in Biological Sciences Recipient Zhijian “James” Chen, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been awarded the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for his discovery of the cGAS enzyme, which senses invading pathogens and triggers the body’s innate immune system. The Lasker Awards, often called “America’s Nobels,” recognize significant advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure and prevention of human disease and are regarded as the country’s preeminent biomedical research prize. Read More
Researchers Make Breakthrough in Fight Against COVID-19
A team led by TAMEST Board Member José Onuchic, Ph.D. (NAS), Rice University and Paul Whitford, Ph.D., Northeastern University, both researchers at the National Science Foundation Physics Frontiers Center at the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) at Rice, has made a discovery in the fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19. Read More
Dr. Peter Hotez Awarded Villanova University’s Mendel Medal
TAMEST Member Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), Baylor College of Medicine, is this year’s recipient of Villanova University’s Mendel Medal, established in 1928 to recognize the scientific accomplishments and religious conviction of outstanding scientists. Read More
OpenStax Partners with Google’s Gemini Apps
OpenStax, the world’s largest nonprofit publisher of open educational resources (OER) founded and directed by TAMEST Member and TAMEST 2025 Annual Conference Speaker Richard Baraniuk, Ph.D. (NAE), Rice University, announces a partnership with Google to expand access to relevant, trustworthy educational content. This partnership will enable the OpenStax library of more than 70 openly licensed, peer-reviewed textbooks to be discovered, searched and referenced within Google Gemini. Read More
Texas A&M Teams Up to Advance Robotic Dexterity
Texas A&M University is joining a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC), led by Northwestern University, seeking to develop robots capable of enhancing human labor. A central goal of the Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity (HAND) center is to make robotic assistance accessible and applicable to a wide range of physical actions through an engineered system of dexterous robotic hands, AI-powered fine motor skills, human interface, as well as developing the workforce and training for the future. TAMEST Member Cynthia M. Hipwell, Ph.D. (NAE), will serve as a deputy director for the HAND center. Read More
Rice Engineers Develop AI System for Real-Time Sensing of Flooded Roads
Roadway-related incidents are a leading cause of flood fatalities nationwide, but limited flood-reporting tools make it difficult to evaluate road conditions in real time. 2023 O’Donnell Award in Engineering Recipient Jamie Padgett, Ph.D., Rice University, together with Pranavesh Panakkal, a postdoctoral researcher in civil and environmental engineering, have developed a possible solution to this problem: an automated data fusion framework called OpenSafe Fusion. Read More
Professor Receives Highest Honor from Germany Society for Materials Science
TAMEST Member George M. Pharr IV, Ph.D. (NAE), Texas A&M University, was recently awarded the highest honor available by the German Society for Material Science — the 2024 Heyn Commemorative Medal. The award dates to 1929 and was created to honor researchers who have moved the needle forward in materials science and engineering. Read More
The Activate Fellowship for Entrepreneurial Scientists and Engineers Applications Open
The Activate Fellowship is a two-year immersive, supportive, and comprehensive program for early-stage hard tech science entrepreneurs to access the funding, technical support, networking, community, and time they need at the outset of their entrepreneurial journeys. The fellowship does not charge any fees or equity to participate and includes a living stipend, additional benefits, services, and tailored mentorship that afford fellows the freedom to explore and define their own entrepreneurial path. Activate’s Cohort 2025 applications are open and will close on October 23. Learn More
UT Dallas, Richardson Partner for 5G Research Lab in Innovation Quarter
A consortium led by telecommunications companies AT&T and Verizon plan to open a research and development lab in Richardson for 5G Radio Access Network products and service. The new facility will be located within Richardson’s Innovation Quarter Headquarters, with the partnership including both The University of Texas at Dallas and city. Read More
Baylor College of Medicine, University of Houston Awarded $44.2 million to Create Regional Hub for Translational Research
Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston have been awarded a $44.2 million Clinical and Translational Science Award Program grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Research to create a regional hub to serve as a support for infrastructure, services, community engagement and workforce development to advance research and drive innovation in clinical translational science. Read More
Texas A&M Joins $26 Million Initiative to Revolutionize Carbon Utilization
Researchers from Texas A&M University including TAMEST Member Stratos Pistikopoulos, Ph.D. (FREng), are playing a leading role in a groundbreaking initiative that seeks to revolutionize United States manufacturing toward zero or negative emissions. Texas A&M and other top-tier institutions are part of a $26 million decarbonization effort led by Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Read More
UTA to Build Netted Drone Facility in Fort Worth
The University of Texas at Arlington is expanding its research and innovation capabilities by building a $2.3 million, state-of-the-art outdoor netted drone facility. The Maverick Autonomous Vehicle Research Center (MAVRC) will be located at the UT Arlington Research Institute (UTARI) in Fort Worth, with a planned completion date of January 2025. Read More
Round Rock Facility to House New UT Supercomputer
The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center chose the Sabey Data Centers in Round Rock to house the fastest supercomputer at any American university. TACC was granted $457 million from the National Science Foundation in July to develop a new research facility and agreed to a deal with Sabey on Aug. 30. The supercomputer, “Horizon,” is anticipated to perform 10 times and apply artificial intelligence 100 times better than the computing center’s current machine, “Frontera.” Read More
