Recipients of the 2025 Hill Prizes Announced
TAMEST and Lyda Hill Philanthropies today announced the recipients of the 2025 Hill Prizes. The prizes, funded by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, propel high-risk, high-reward ideas and innovations that demonstrate very significant potential for real-world impact and can lead to new, paradigm-shifting paths in research.
The prizes are given in six categories: Medicine, Public Health, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences and Technology. They recognize and advance top Texas innovators providing seed funding to advance groundbreaking science and highlight Texas as a premier destination for world-class research.
This is the first year that the prizes recognize six awardees, including a new Prize in Public Health, thanks to a $10 million commitment from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to expand and extend the Hill Prizes. In addition, Lyda Hill Philanthropies committed to fund at least $1 million in discretionary research funding on an ad hoc basis for highly ranked applicants not selected as recipients. In 2024, this included additional funding for investigators at Baylor College of Medicine, Southern Methodist University and UT Southwestern Medical Center.
A committee of TAMEST members (Texas-based members of the National Academies) selected the recipients, who were then endorsed by a committee of Texas Nobel and Breakthrough Prize Laureates and approved by the TAMEST Board of Directors.
“It is with great pride that I congratulate this year’s Hill Prizes recipients. Their innovation is remarkable, as is their unwavering dedication to creating game-changing discoveries that address such crucial issues in our society,” said Lyda Hill, Founder of Lyda Hill Philanthropies. “Their contributions are a testament to their talent and perseverance, and I look forward to seeing how these prizes will support their efforts to shape a better and brighter tomorrow for us all.”
The projects selected for the 2025 Hill Prizes focus on creative, collaborative approaches to some of the world’s biggest challenges, featuring top-tier, cross-disciplinary teams with leaders and researchers from multiple institutions. Recipients of the winning proposals will be recognized the evening of February 4, 2025, at the opening reception of the TAMEST 2025 Annual Conference in Irving, Texas. Each of the six winning proposals will receive $500,000 in funding from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to accelerate their work.
The Principal Investigators of the winning proposals are:
- Medicine: Kenneth M. Hargreaves, D.D.S., Ph.D., Professor of Endodontics, Pharmacology, Physiology and Surgery, the President’s Council Endowed Chair in Research, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Dr. Hargreaves’ proposal was chosen for the 2025 Hill Prize in Medicine for developing non-opioid analgesics, also known as painkillers, to reduce the use of opioids and prevent drug addiction. Prescription opioids such as hydrocodone and oxycodone are widely recognized to be a major gateway to opioid use disorder (OUD). The drug overdose epidemic continues to accelerate, with Texas experiencing a 75% increase in death rates over the last five years. Dr. Hargreaves and his team will use the prize funding to develop novel non-opioid analgesics and create a critical bridge to help prompt commercial development. His team identified a new approach to identify novel targets and found several potential candidates. Dr. Hargreaves will partner with researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio to validate the potential novel targets identified and screen active compounds. The outcome aims to create a novel non-opioid analgesic and in turn, reduce opioid use syndrome and the epidemic of related overdose deaths.
- Public Health: Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Professor of the Departments of Pediatrics, Molecular Virology & Microbiology and Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Hotez’s proposal was chosen for the 2025 Hill Prize in Public Health for creating a critical response to escalating health risks intensified by climate disasters through The Texas Virosphere Project. The changing climate continues to alter biodiversity and habitats of vectors, such as mosquitos and ticks, expanding the geographic distribution of emerging and neglected tropical infectious diseases to Texas and the broader Gulf Coast. This expansion increases the vulnerability for vector-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Chagas disease, typhus, tick-borne relapsing fever and related human and veterinary illnesses. Dr. Hotez and his team at Baylor College of Medicine will collaborate with researchers at Rice University to create a predictive disease atlas with public health applications to help foreshadow potential outbreaks before they become public health emergencies. This approach, which combines climate science and metagenomics to access 3,000 insect genomes, aims to revolutionize the understanding of disease ecology. It will guide local and state health departments to improve disease prevention and control strategies, inform public health policies and ultimately address social determinants of health in Texas and the Gulf Coast.
- Engineering: Joan Frances Brennecke, Ph.D. (NAE), Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering #16, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin.
Co-PI: Benny D. Freeman, Ph.D. (NAE), William J. (Bill) Murray, Jr. Endowed Chair in Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Brennecke’s proposal was chosen for the 2025 Hill Prize in Engineering to develop advanced, stable and energy-efficient membrane technology to separate olefins (such as ethylene and propylene) from paraffins, a process crucial in many industries including petrochemicals. Global olefin production exceeds 200 million tonnes annually, or 30 kg per person, and is used to produce plastics, pharmaceuticals, medical tubing, diapers, detergents, antifreeze, food containers, and more. The current method of olefin purification is highly energy-intensive and can be a very challenging process. Building on a recent breakthrough in chemically stable facilitated transport membranes, Dr. Brennecke and her collaborator Dr. Freeman will utilize the prize funding to create robust thin-film composite membranes with improved performance for commercial applications. This investment will enable their team to explore innovative approaches to enhance membrane performance, establish robust manufacturing processes and collaborate with industry partners to bring this groundbreaking technology to market. This process promises to significantly reduce global energy consumption and CO2 emissions, equivalent to removing 18 million cars from the road, and has the potential to be a major step in the de-carbonization of the chemical industry.
- Biological Sciences: David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS)*, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology, UT Southwestern Medical Center; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Co-PI: Steven A. Kliewer, Ph.D. (NAS), Professor of Molecular Biology and Diana K. and Richard C. Strauss Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dr. Mangelsdorf’s proposal was chosen for the 2025 Hill Prize in Biological Sciences for exploring a novel vulnerability in the signaling pathway that governs soybean cyst nematode (SCN) infection in soybeans. Soybeans are a key crop facing global losses due to parasitic nematodes. His team will utilize the prize funding to investigate how the SCN parasite, Heterodera glycines, detects and infects soybean plants through a unique biochemical signaling interaction. Using a cross-institutional and multidisciplinary approach that combines plant biology, chemistry, pharmacology and structural biology, his team will work with faculty at The University of Georgia to uncover this previously unknown signaling mechanism. The findings could reveal new drug targets for controlling SCN. Since similar pathways are present in other crop-parasitic nematodes, the research has the potential to provide a transformative strategy for managing a broad range of plant parasites, which would improve global food security.
*Dr. Mangelsdorf is a past recipient of the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Medicine (2007).
- Physical Sciences: James Chelikowsky, Ph.D., Professor of Physics, Professor of Chemical Engineering, and W.A. “Tex” Moncrief, Jr., Chair in Computational Materials at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Chelikowsky’s proposal has been awarded the 2025 Hill Prize in Physical Sciences for its innovative approach to designing and discovering permanent magnets. The development of energy materials for green technologies, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy systems, heavily depends on rare earth elements (REEs) for permanent magnets. However, the inclusion of REEs often faces secure supply chain issues. Additionally, the scarcity of REEs, such as neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy), poses a significant challenge for scaling up technologies like wind turbines. To address this, Dr. Chelikowsky and his team at The University of Texas at Austin will collaborate with researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington. They will leverage artificial intelligence, quantum simulations and experimental techniques to design and discover non-rare-earth (REE) abundant permanent magnets. The team will use the prize to explore promising alternatives that exhibit comparable magnetic properties to traditional REE-based magnets. Their approach could significantly impact energy security and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy solutions.
- Technology: Robert De Lorenzo, M.D., President and Co-Founder, EmergenceMed LLC
Co-PI: R. Lyle Hood, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Dr. De Lorenzo’s proposal was chosen for the 2025 Hill Prize in Technology for addressing longstanding issues in airway management for emergency, critical care and surgical settings. Current endotracheal tubes (ETTs) suffer from high failure rates, dislodgement, leakage and a lack of innovation over the past 125 years. Dr. De Lorenzo will use the prize funding to partner with researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio to redesign the ETTs by developing a Flexible Airway Securement Tube (FAST) and then taking the design to market. His new design features innovative expanding/contracting geometries, smart materials and modular components. This will enable better adaptability to various trachea sizes, improved fluid sealing and greater stability. This redesign promises to simplify intubation, enhance patient safety and pave the way for future AI-driven advancements in airway management.
“On behalf of TAMEST, we are honored to congratulate this year’s recipients of the Hill Prizes, whose work exemplifies innovation and excellence and helps define Texas as a leader in scientific research and discovery,” said TAMEST President Brendan Lee, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), Baylor College of Medicine. “These prestigious prizes not only recognize their remarkable research but also benefit from the critical support from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to help propel their work forward. We know their discoveries will continue to advance science in ways that will have a lasting impact on our world.”
“The Hill Prizes are designed to catalyze groundbreaking ideas and offer seed funding that bridges the gap between research and real-world impact,” said 2025 Hill Prizes Committee Chair David E. Daniel, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Dallas. “There is no shortage of innovation in Texas, and it was an honor to help put forward recipients whose deserving high-potential projects can now move forward thanks to Lyda Hill and her team’s support.”
Each recipient will submit an annual impact report to TAMEST and Lyda Hill Philanthropies to showcase their progress and highlight how the prize has accelerated their research.
Applications for the 2026 Hill Prizes will open May 1, 2025.
Visit www.tamest.org/hill-prizes for more information on the prizes, application and selection process. TAMEST thanks the Hill Prizes Committee for their work selecting the 2025 recipients. Learn more about the committee members here.
About Lyda Hill Philanthropies:
Lyda Hill Philanthropies encompasses the charitable giving for founder Lyda Hill and includes her foundation and personal philanthropy. Her organization is committed to funding transformational advances in science and nature, empowering nonprofit organizations and improving the Texas and Colorado communities. Because Miss Hill has a fervent belief that “science is the answer” to many of life’s most challenging issues, she has chosen to donate the entirety of her estate to philanthropy and scientific research.
