TAMEST Member News Roundup – April 2026
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 Public Media: The Future of Cancer Research May Lie in Tricking the Immune System, UT Researchers Say, TAMEST Member Jonathan L. Sessler, Ph.D. (NAS), The University of Texas at Austin
Bioengineer: First-in-Class Radio-Theranostic Developed Using Novel Antibody from UT MD Anderson, TAMEST Board Member David R. Piwnica-Worms, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
KCEN News: Former Astronaut and Texas A&M University Professor Explains Artemis II Mission, TAMEST Member Bonnie J. Dunbar, Ph.D. (NAE), Texas A&M University
The Transmitter: Exon-Skipping Approach Boosts Levels of Key Rett Syndrome Protein, TAMEST Member and Nobel and Breakthrough Prize Laureates Committee Member Huda Y. Zoghbi, M.D. (NAM, NAS), Baylor College of Medicine
Energy Digital: Top 10: Women in Energy in the United States, TAMEST Member Vicki A. Hollub (NAE), Occidental Petroleum Corporation
France 24: ‘Space Accessibility Has to be Expanded’: Former Astronaut Mae Jemison Speaks to FRANCE 24, TAMEST Member Mae C. Jemison, M.D. (NAM), The Jemison Group
Innovation News Network: New PFAS-Based Method Could Transform Lithium Extraction From Brine, TAMEST Member James M. Tour, Ph.D. (NAE), Rice University
Cancer Health: Study Identifies Why Some Breast Cancers Evade Treatment, TAMEST Member Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D. (NAM), UT Southwestern Medical Center
Earth: Spinning Fire Whirls May Clean Oil Spills Faster And With Less Smoke, TAMEST Member Elaine S. Oran, Ph.D. (NAE, FrEng), Texas A&M University
National Today: Researchers Uncover Mechanism Driving Pediatric Brain Tumors, TAMEST 2024 O’Donnell Award in Medicine Recipient Benjamin Deneen, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine
ASBMB Today: Decoding How Bacteria Flip Host’s Molecular Switches, TAMEST Board Secretary Kim Orth, Ph.D. (NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center and TAMEST Member Margaret A. Phillips, Ph.D. (NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center
Biz Journals: Cancer-Fighting Startup CoRegen Lands $13.5M, Adapts Following Death of Dr. Bert O’Malley, Baylor College of Medicine
Member Briefs
Michael and Susan Dell Surpass $1 Billion in Giving to The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation announced that Michael and Susan Dell have become UT Austin’s first-ever billion-dollar supporters. In honor of Michael and Susan Dell’s new investment and their lifetime of generosity, the University is establishing the UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research and the UT Dell Medical Center to advance human health. The UT Dell Medical Center is poised to become a leading destination for care and research — leveraging UT Austin’s research breadth, Austin’s technology ecosystem and Texas’ thriving economy. Read More
Moshe Vardi Named 2026 NAAI Academy Award Laureate
TAMEST Member Moshe Y. Vardi, Ph.D. (NAE, NAS, FRS), Rice University, has been named a 2026 NAAI Academy Award Laureate by the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence (NAAI). The award is the Academy’s highest honor and recognizes scientists whose research has fundamentally advanced the scientific foundations of artificial intelligence. Dr. Vardi received the award for seminal contributions to logic-based artificial intelligence and formal reasoning in intelligent systems. Read More
Helen H. Hobbs Honored for Innovation in Cardiovascular Science
TAMEST Member and Nobel and Breakthrough Prize Laureates Committee Member Helen H. Hobbs, M.D. (NAM, NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been named the recipient of the 2026 Valentin Fuster Award for Innovation in Science by the American College of Cardiology (ACC). This honor reflects her contributions to cardiovascular science and her role in advancing research that has directly improved patient care. Read More
University of Texas Faculty Charles Taylor Named Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
TAMEST Member and TAMEST 2027 Annual Conference Medicine Co-Chair Charles “Charley” Taylor, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin, has been elected as a Corresponding Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious scientific societies. He is among 13 scholars elected this year and the only American among the newly elected members. Read More
Experimental Hookworm Vaccine Shows Promising Protection in Phase 2 Human Trial
Researchers at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in partnership with researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, including TAMEST Member and 2025 Hill Prize in Public Health Recipient Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), report encouraging results from a phase 2 clinical trial evaluating a candidate vaccine to prevent hookworm infection – one of the world’s most common parasitic diseases. The findings, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, show that a formulation of the investigational vaccine significantly reduced the intensity of infection in healthy adult volunteers exposed to the parasite under carefully controlled conditions. Read More
Harris County Names Ship Channel Bridge for Rice Mathematician Richard Tapia
Harris County has officially named one of the region’s most prominent infrastructure projects after a Rice University scholar and TAMEST member whose career has shaped generations of scientists, mathematicians and engineers. In a unanimous vote the Harris County Commissioners Court, county leaders approved naming the Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge in honor of TAMEST Member Richard A. Tapia, Ph.D. (NAE), Rice University. Both the existing bridge crossing the Houston Ship Channel and the new span currently under construction will carry Dr. Tapia’s name. Read More
Lurie Autism Institute Announces Dr. Huda Zoghbi as the Inaugural Recipient of the Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research
The Lurie Autism Institute, a joint initiative of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine created to drive discovery, develop new treatments, and improve the lives of individuals and families affected by autism, is proud to announce that TAMEST Member and Nobel and Breakthrough Prize Laureates Committee Member Huda Y. Zoghbi, M.D. (NAM, NAS), Baylor College of Medicine, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research, the Institute’s highest honor recognizing transformative contributions to autism research. Read More
After a Decade of Pioneering Digital Twin Research, UT Austin Emerges as a Global Leader in AI for Science
A University of Texas-led team including TAMEST Member and Hill Prize in Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee Member Karen E. Willcox, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin, demonstrated the life-saving potential of digital twins by developing a tsunami forecasting system that could redefine coastal safety. Working on the high-risk Cascadia subduction zone off the Pacific coast of North America — a region with nearly a 40% probability of a major earthquake in the coming decades — researchers achieved a breakthrough that earned the prestigious 2025 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Gordon Bell Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of supercomputing. Read More
Renowned Researcher Joining UT Southwestern Medical Center is Among Recipients of up to $25 Million Cancer Grand Challenges Award
Jean-Laurent Casanova, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), an internationally recognized expert in the fields of genetics, immunology and infectious diseases who will be joining UT Southwestern Medical Center on July 1, has been selected along with a global team of researchers to receive a Cancer Grand Challenges award of up to $25 million. Read More
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Hosts Grand Opening for New 21,000-Square-Foot Clinical Supply Facility
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) celebrated the grand opening of its new Clinical Supply Facility. The 21,000-square-foot laboratory adds dedicated suites and HEPA filtered cleanrooms to support pharmaceutical development and bioengineering research, particularly in advanced clinical supplies. Read more
Rice University Selected to Lead United States Space Force Strategic Technology Institute 4
Rice University has signed an $8.1 million cooperative agreement to lead the United States Space Force University Consortium/Space Strategic Technology Institute 4 (SSTI), called the Center for Advanced Space Sensing Technologies at Rice. “Rice has helped shape the modern era of space research, and CASST marks a bold step into what comes next,” said TAMEST Member David Scott Sholl, Ph.D. (NAE). Read More
