TAMEST Member News Roundup- September 2021
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
Bloomberg: Therapeutic Solutions International Announces Titan of Industry Dr. Peter Farrell Joining Advisory Board of its Suicide Prevention Spin-Off Campbell Neurosciences, TAMEST Member Peter Farrell, Ph.D. (NAE), ResMed
Environment News Service: Upcycling Turns Plastic Waste into Oils, Foods, TAMEST Member Ali Erdemir, Ph.D. (NAE), Texas A&M University
Houston Chronicle: Peter Hotez: Scientists Divided on What Recent COVID Decline Means for Houston, United States, TAMEST Member Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), Baylor College of Medicine
LA Sentinel: National Study Shows Disparities in Healthcare Spending Among Race, TAMEST Board Past President Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H. (NAM), UT Health San Antonio
Yahoo Finance: Atavistik Bio Announces $60 Million Series A Financing to Advance Genetically-Validated Targets in Metabolic Diseases and Cancer, TAMEST Member Ralph J. DeBerardinis, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), UT Southwestern Medical Center
Member Briefs
Peter J. Hotez from Baylor College of Medicine Receives the 2021 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award
TAMEST congratulates renowned vaccine scientist and TAMEST Member Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), Baylor College of Medicine for receiving the 2021 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award. Dr. Hotez was chosen for his “groundbreaking research, advocacy, and education,” which “have led to many breakthroughs, including a ‘rapid impact package’ of medicines to combat neglected tropical diseases — the most common afflictions of the world’s poor — and a new low-cost version of a COVID-19 vaccine being tested across India.” Read More
Alessandra Corsi from Texas Tech University Receives the 2022 New Horizons in Physics Prize
TAMEST congratulates 2020 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Science Recipient Alessandra Corsi, Ph.D., Texas Tech University on receiving the 2022 New Horizons in Physics Prize for laying out the foundations for electromagnetic observations of sources of gravitational waves, and for her leadership in extracting rich information from the first observed collision of two neutron stars. Dr. Corsi was also named one of Science News magazine’s SN 10: Scientists to Watch in 2020. Read More
Texas A&M to Establish Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine
Texas A&M University President and TAMEST Member M. Katherine Banks, Ph.D. (NAE), Texas A&M University has announced approval to establish the Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine effective Sept. 1, 2021. The new school will be the organizational home of the EnMed initiative, which aims to transform health care for all by training invention-minded, problem-solving doctors known as physicianeers. “Our faculty and students will work to address some of the greatest challenges in medicine through convergence-born innovations that have the potential to extend the human health span globally,” said EnMed Executive Director and TAMEST Board Member Roderic I. Pettigrew, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM, NAE), Texas A&M Health, Texas A&M and Houston Methodist. Read More
Reducing the Impacts of Anthropogenic Climate Change
Texas A&M Energy Institute and AIR TO EARTH® are partnering to develop new materials and methods to help reduce the impacts of climate change. Led by TAMEST Member Stratos Pistikopoulos, Ph.D. (FREng), Texas A&M University, and Joseph Stark, the Founder and CEO of Air to Earth, the project will modify or design new chemical sorbents, which ideally will efficiently capture carbon dioxide from ambient air and be able to be produced at low cost and provide durable performance. Focusing on porous polymer networks, which show great promise for the technological feasibility and driving down the costs of direct air capture (DAC), the project will seek to optimize the materials, processes, and technologies that will eventually lead to an efficient, cost-effective full-scale DAC operation. Read More
Developing Digital Twins for Improved Hurricane Prediction
TAMEST Member Bridget R. Scanlon, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin, is part of a team of scientists working to make storm surge predictions for hurricanes more accurate than ever. Through the Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program, the Department of Energy will support a collaborative team of experimental and computational scientists from the University of Texas at Austin, Louisiana State University, the University of Notre Dame and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as they develop “digital twins” that can help predict future performance and behavior of storms. Learn More
New Research Center Will Focus on Resilient, Clean Nuclear Energy
The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) announced the creation of the new Center for Advanced Small Modular and Micro Nuclear Reactors (CASMR), which will focus on enabling the world’s transition to clean energy while protecting the environment. Renowned nuclear engineering researcher and TAMEST Member Yassin A. Hassan, Ph.D. (NAE), Texas A&M University will lead the center. Hassan is a Regents Professor and the holder of the Peterson Chair in the Texas A&M University College of Engineering. Read More
The University of Texas at Arlington Achieves Prestigious Texas Tier One Designation
The University of Texas at Arlington has become just the fourth institution in the state to achieve designation as a Texas Tier One university, a designation awarded to emerging research universities as part of the state’s effort to help them achieve national recognition as major research centers. “Texas Tier One” brings with it access to the state’s National Research University Fund (NRUF). Read More
Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas Awards $142 Million in New Grants
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded over $142 million in grants to fund innovative research to institutions in Texas. Several TAMEST member institutions were included in the grants, including Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and more. Read More
