TAMEST Member News Roundup – December 2025
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
New York Times (Subscription Required): Is There a Little Wolf in Your Chihuahua?, TAMEST Member William J. Murphy, Ph.D. (NAS), Texas A&M University
Science Alert: Almost $100 Billion Worth of Rare Earth Elements May Be Buried in the US, TAMEST Member Bridget R. Scanlon, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin
CW 39 Houston: Texas Southern University Environment Study Turned Documentary Warns Petrochemicals Harming Communities, TAMEST Member Robert D. Bullard, Ph.D. (NAM), Texas Southern University
San Antonio Express News (Subscription Required): As State Invests in Dementia Prevention, UT San Antonio Declares ‘New Era’ in Alzheimer’s Treatment, TAMEST Member Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D. (NAM), UT San Antonio
Inside Precision Medicine: Bacteria Inside Brain Tumors Could Affect How They Behave, TAMEST Member and 2023 O’Donnell Award in Medicine Recipient Jennifer Wargo, M.D. (NAM), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
The Dallas Morning News: Lyda Hill Philanthropies Backs Cancer Research with $750K Challenge Grant, Lyda Hill, Lyda Hill Philanthropies
The Dallas Morning News: SMU Draws $60 Million Donation to Launch Energy Studies, Honors Programs, Southern Methodist University and the O’Donnell Foundation
D Magazine: Meet the Dallas 500: Nicole Small, LH Capital and Lyda Hill Philanthropies, Nicole Small, LH Capital and Lyda Hill Philanthropies
Member Briefs
CPRIT Approves Almost $154 Million in New Cancer Research and Prevention Awards, Surpasses $4 Billion Total
The governing board of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) approved 73 grants totaling almost $154 million. Of the approved awards is a 5 million CPRIT Scholar grant to Baylor College of Medicine to recruit John Quackenbush, Ph.D., of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Awardees also include TAMEST Members Margaret “Peggy” A. Goodell, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS) and Ronald A. DePinho, M.D. (NAM, NAS) as well as 2025 Mary Beth Maddox Award and Lectureship Recipient Gerta Hoxhaj, Ph.D. CPRIT’s total investment in cancer prevention and research tops $4 billion—more than any other state in the nation. Read More
Two-Step Flash Joule Heating Method Recovers Lithium‑Ion Battery Materials Quickly and Cleanly
A research team at Rice University led by TAMEST Member James M. Tour, Ph.D. (NAE),
Rice University, has developed a two-step flash Joule heating-chlorination and oxidation (FJH-ClO) process that rapidly separates lithium and transition metals from spent lithium-ion batteries. The method provides an acid-free, energy-saving alternative to conventional recycling techniques, a breakthrough that aligns with the surging global demand for batteries used in electric vehicles and portable electronics. Read More
Brain “Stars” Hold the Power to Preserve Cognitive Function in Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine including 2024 O’Donnell Award in Medicine Recipient Benjamin Deneen, Ph.D., have discovered a natural mechanism that clears existing amyloid plaques in the brains of mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease and preserves cognitive function. The mechanism involves recruiting brain cells known as astrocytes, star shaped cells in the brain, to remove the toxic amyloid plaques that build up in many Alzheimer’s disease brains. Increasing the production of Sox9, a key protein that regulates astrocyte functions during aging, triggered the astrocytes’ ability to remove amyloid plaques. The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, suggests a potential astrocyte-based therapeutic approach to ameliorate cognitive decline in neurodegenerative disease. Read More
New Gene-Editing Tech Holds Promise for Treating Complex Genetic Diseases
Some genetic disorders—such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia and Tay Sachs disease—involve many mutations in a person’s genome, often with enough variation that even two individuals who share the same disorder might have a different combination of mutations. Complexities like these make it challenging to develop broadly applicable gene therapies for these disorders. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin including 2025 O’Donnell Award in Biological Sciences Recipient Ilya J. Finkelstein, Ph.D., now have developed an improved method of gene editing that is precise, more efficient than other similar methods and can correct many disease-causing mutations at once in mammalian cells. Read More
Texas A&M Hagler Institute Announces First Recipients of Rogers/Huang Medal
The Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University announced the recipients of its inaugural Rogers/Huang Medal, a prestigious award for the best collaborative research paper by a Hagler Fellow with a Texas A&M student among the co-authors. “The Hagler Institute is pleased to present the Rogers/Huang Medal in partnership with John Rogers and Yonggang Huang,” said TAMEST Member John L. Junkins, Ph.D. (NAE), founding director of the Hagler Institute. “The works submitted for this contest demonstrate the power of collaboration and mentorship.” Read More
New Southwest Research Institute Laboratory to Study the Origins of Planetary Systems
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has created a new space science laboratory to enhance our understanding of the origins of planetary systems. SwRI’s Nebular Origins of the Universe Research (NOUR) Laboratory is led by SwRI Senior Research Scientist Dr. Danna Qasim. The laboratory will trace the chemical origins of planetary systems. Read More
