Houston foundation grants $27M to support Texas chemistry research

fresh funding

Houston's Welch Foundation has awarded more than 80 grants to support chemical research and careers in Texas for 2025. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based The Welch Foundation has doled out $27 million in its latest round of grants for chemical research, equipment and postdoctoral fellowships.

According to a June announcement, $25.5 million was allocated for the foundation's longstanding research grants, which provide $100,000 per year in funding for three years to full-time, regular tenure or tenure-track faculty members in Texas. The foundation made 85 grants to faculty at 16 Texas institutions for 2025, including:

  • Michael I. Jacobs, assistant professor in the chemistry and biochemistry department at Texas State University, who is investigating the structure and thermodynamics of intrinsically disordered proteins, which could "reveal clues about how life began," according to the foundation.
  • Kendra K. Frederick, assistant professor in the biophysics department at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who is studying a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease.
  • Jennifer S. Brodbelt, professor in chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, who is testing a theory called full replica symmetry breaking (fullRSB) on glass-like materials, which has implications for complex systems in physics, chemistry and biology.

Additional funding will be allocated to the Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. The program provides three-year fellowships to recent PhD graduates to support clinical research careers in Texas. Two fellows from Rice University and Baylor University will receive $100,000 annually for three years.

The Welch Foundation also issued $975,000 through its equipment grant program to 13 institutions to help them develop "richer laboratory experience(s)." The universities matched funds of $352,346.

Since 1954, the Welch Foundation has contributed over $1.1 billion for Texas-nurtured advancements in chemistry through research grants, endowed chairs and other chemistry-related ventures. Last year, the foundation granted more than $40.5 million in academic research grants, equipment grants and fellowships.

“Through funding basic chemical research, we are actively investing in the future of humankind,” Adam Kuspa, president of The Welch Foundation, said the news release. “We are proud to support so many talented researchers across Texas and continue to be inspired by the important work they complete every day.”

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In all, the Welch Foundation on June 4 announced more than $40.5 million in academic research grants, equipment grants, and fellowships. Photo via Getty Images

Texas organization grants over $40M to chemistry research in Houston and beyond

fresh funding

Two local professors are among the newly announced recipients of funding from the Houston-based Welch Foundation, which finances chemical research projects.

The two professors are:

  • Jacinta Conrad, the Frank M. Tiller Professor in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at the University of Houston. Conrad will use her grant to investigate glass transition, a temperature change that affects polymers. She describes glass transition as one of the “most intriguing open problems in physical chemistry.”
  • James Shee, assistant professor in the Chemistry Department at Rice University. Shee will put his grant toward advancing theoretical chemistry.

Every year, the foundation provides annual grants totaling at least $100,000 to support chemistry research being carried out by full-time faculty members at colleges, universities, and other educational institutions in Texas.

In all, the Welch Foundation on June 4 announced more than $40.5 million in academic research grants, equipment grants, and fellowships.

Part of the announced funding will go toward the foundation’s new Postdoctoral Fellows Grant Program. The program provides three-year fellowships to recent PhD graduates to support clinical research careers in Texas. A total of $900,000 in postdoctoral fellowships were funded at Rice University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Since 1954, the Welch Foundation has contributed over $1.1 billion for Texas-nurtured advancements in chemistry through research grants, endowed chairs, and other chemistry-related ventures.

“Ongoing basic chemical research is critically important for helping to solve current and future problems,” said Adam Kuspa, President of the Welch Foundation. “We strongly believe the foundation’s continued support of the research grant program, combined with … new programs, will yield even more exciting developments as we work to advance chemistry and improve our lives.”

The Welch Foundation, a Houston-based nonprofit, has doled out fresh funding to research organizations, with over a third being deployed to Houston-area institutions. Photo via Getty Images

Houston organization announces nearly $28M in Texas research grant funding

money moves

Five schools in the Houston area have landed $10.8 million in research grants from the Houston-based Welch Foundation.

The 36 grants were awarded to Rice University, Texas A&M University, the University of Houston, the Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

In all, the foundation announced nearly $28 million in Texas research grants for 2023. All of the money — in the form of 91 grants for 15 Texas colleges and universities — goes toward chemical research. This year’s total for grant funding matches last year’s total.

“The Welch Foundation continues to emphasize the creative pursuit of basic chemical research,” Adam Kuspa, the foundation’s president and a former dean at the Baylor College of Medicine, says in a news release. “Our funding allows investigators throughout the state to follow their curiosity and explore the foundations chemical processes.”

Since its establishment in 1954, the Welch Foundation has contributed about $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry in Texas.

One of this year’s local grant recipients is Haotian Wang, assistant professor in Rice’s chemical and biomolecular department. The professor’s grant-funded research will focus on the conversion of carbon dioxide into useful chemicals, such as ethanol.

Last year, Rice reported that Wang’s lab in the George R. Brown School of Engineering had replaced rare, expensive iridium with ruthenium, a more abundant precious metal, as the positive-electrode catalyst in a reactor that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.

The lab’s addition of nickel to ruthenium dioxide resulted in production of hydrogen from water electrolysis for thousands of hours.

“There’s huge industry interest in clean hydrogen,” Wang says. “It’s an important energy carrier and also important for chemical fabrication, but its current production contributes a significant portion of carbon emissions in the chemical manufacturing sector globally.”

“We want to produce it in a more sustainable way,” he adds, “and water-splitting using clean electricity is widely recognized as the most promising option.”

Houston-based Welch Foundation has awarded almost $28 million in chemical research grants throughout Texas this year. Photo via Getty Images

Houston research organization doles out $28M in grants to innovators across Texas

funding for the future

Chemical researchers at seven institutions in the Houston area are receiving nearly $12.9 million grants from the Houston-based Welch Foundation.

In the Houston area, 43 grants are going to seven institutions:

  • Baylor College of Medicine
  • Rice University
  • Texas A&M University
  • Texas A&M University Health Science Center
  • University of Houston
  • University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  • University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston

The Welch Foundation is awarding almost $28 million in chemical research grants throughout Texas this year. The money will be allocated over a three-year period.

“Today, chemical research is more important than ever for improving the human condition and for meeting the global challenges that threaten our collective future,” says Adam Kuspa, president of the Welch Foundation. “Basic research in chemistry and related fields provides the foundation for groundbreaking scientific discoveries that can help solve current problems and sustain progress.”

Two of the 2022 grant recipients cited by the foundation are:

  • Josephine Chu Ferreon, assistant professor of pharmacology and chemical Biology at the Baylor College of Medicine. She plans to use her Welch grant to conduct research on intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and their potential applications in biotech and nanomedicine. IDPs, known as “dancing proteins,” do not form uniquely defined 3D structures. Because of the structural flexibility, IDPs can pair with ordered proteins to perform functions that structured proteins can’t do on their own.
  • David Powers, assistant professor of chemistry at Texas A&M. He leads a research group focused on the relationship between organic and inorganic chemistry. Members of the group are trying to develop new methods for the sustainable synthesis of functional molecules.

Since its establishment in 1954, the Welch Foundation has contributed more than $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry in Texas. Last year, the organization granted $23 million in funds.

The Welch Foundation has announced millions in Texas research funding. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based research grant program doles out $23M to Texas scientists

funds for the future

One of the nation's largest private funders for health care research has announced $23 million in fresh funds — and about a third of that is going into the hands of Houstonians.

The Welch Foundation, based in Houston, announced its 2021 research grant funding last week. Over the next three years, the funds will be be distributed in $7,520,000 payouts annually across the state of Texas. Since its founding in 1954, the foundation has doled out almost $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry.

"Ongoing basic chemical research is critical and provides the building blocks to help solve current and future problems," says Adam Kuspa, president of The Welch Foundation, in a news release. "Funding from The Welch Foundation is a valuable resource to Texas institutions. It helps set our state's researchers apart from others and we look forward to seeing what invaluable scientific contributions come from this year's grant recipients."

The universities in the Houston area that received a cut of this chunk of funding include Rice University, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, and Baylor College of Medicine for a total of $8,400,000 across 35 grants.

One of the Houston-area researchers who received funding is Leila Romero, assistant professor and CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research at Baylor University's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Romero and her team is exploring modes of asymmetric catalysis and to study how these new processes work. According to the release, the funding will also support the training of young graduate students at the institution who are on track to become future innovators in chemical synthesis.

Other Texas institutions in other major cities also received funding:

  • The Dallas/Fort Worth area received funding for 42 grants, totaling $10,080,000. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, The University of Texas at Dallas, University of North Texas, Baylor University, Southern Methodist University, and Texas Christian University were the recipient institutions.
  • In Austin, the University of Texas Received funding for 11 grants, totaling $2,640,000.
  • The University of Texas at San Antonio and Trinity University received the three grants — totaling $720,000 — that went to the San Antonio area.
  • In West Texas, The University of Texas at El Paso received funding for 1 grant, totaling $240,000.
  • Texas Tech University received funding for two grants, totaling $480,000

Last year, the Welch Foundation announced a $100 million gift to Rice University to establish The Welch Institute. The institute will foster the study of matter, the design and discovery of new materials, and nanotechnology, and it will be led by an independent board of directors and scientific advisory board.

Kuspa, who's led the foundation since September 2019, joined the Houston Innovators Podcast last December to discuss the new institute and the importance of supporting researchers in Texas.


This week's innovators to know roundup includes Heath Butler and Samantha Lewis of Mercury Fund and Adam Kuspa of the Welch Foundation. Photos courtesy

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: In this week's Monday roundup of Houston innovators, I'm introducing you to three innovators across the city — each in their own ways financially support the region's top innovators.


Heath Butler and Samantha Lewis of Mercury Fund

Heath Butler has been promoted to managing director of Mercury Fund, and Samantha Lewis joins the firm as principal. Photos courtesy

Houston-based Mercury Fund, which focuses on early-stage startups located in central United States, announced the promotion of Heath Butler to managing director from network partner. Additionally, Samantha Lewis — formerly investment director at Houston-based Goose Capital — is joining the fund as principal.

"Over the past few years, we've continued to build our investment team with top talent from our ecosystem," says Blair Garrou, co-founder and managing director of Mercury, in a news release.

"The promotion of Heath and the addition of Samantha will further Mercury's early-stage venture leadership in Middle America, and is illustrative of Mercury's deep commitment to diversity as a core value driver," continues Garrou. Click here to read more.

Adam Kuspa of The Welch Foundation

Adam Kuspa of The Welch Foundation joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine, materials science, and more. Photo courtesy of The Welch Foundation

It's been an interesting year for Adam Kuspa and the Welch Foundation as — just like any other organization — the pandemic has caused various disruptions for Kuspa and his team. At the same time, COVID-19 has forced an unprecedented public-private response from the medical community, the government, and more.

"I'm very proud of the scientific enterprise in this country and around the world — they way it's been supported, developed, and maintained over the years — to allow for something like this be even contemplated," Kuspa says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast.

Over the last 40 to 50 years, researchers in the fields immunology, vaccine research, protein biochemistry, and more, have seen increased support, Kuspa says, and that's what made a difference in the pandemic and allowed for a vaccine to emerge so quickly. Click here to read more and to listen to the episode.

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3 Houston incubators and accelerators fueling the growth of local startups

Meet the finalists

It takes a village to launch a business. That's where Houston's network of incubators and accelerators can step in, providing the resources, mentorship and community needed to push a fledgling company forward.

As part of our 2026 Houston Innovation Awards, the Incubator/Accelerator of the Year category honors a local organization that is championing and fueling the growth of Houston startups.

Three incubators and accelerators have been named finalists for the 2026 award. They support startups ranging from hard-tech companies to food and youth concepts.

Read more about these organizations below. The 2026 winners will be announced on InnovationMap.com in mid-November.

Activate

Hard tech incubator Activate supports scientists in "the outset of their entrepreneurial journey." The Houston hub was introduced in 2024, and joins others in Boston, New York, and Berkley, California—where Activate is headquartered. It named its third Houston cohort this summer.

The two-year program graduated its first class of Houston fellows in 2026 and saw its first alumni IPO from Houston-based Fervo Energy, which previously participated in a Berkley cohort. Nationally, it has supported 346 fellows and 276 companies since 2015. Those companies have raised more than $6 billion in follow-on funding, according to Activate. In Houston, it has supported Houston startups like Solidec, FlowCellutions and Orbital Arc. Activate Houston is led by managing director Jeremy Pitts, who co-founded Greentown Labs in Boston. It is based out of the Ion.

Impact Hub Houston

Impact Hub Houston supports early-stage ventures at various stages of development through innovative programs that address pressing societal issues. The nonprofit organization supports social impact startups through mentorship, connections and training opportunities.

There are more than 110 Impact Hubs globally with members spanning 72 countries. Launched in 2018, Impact Hub Houston says its membership tripled by the beginning of 2026. This year brought major milestones for the community, including the launch of its Ideas to Impact Accelerator, which supported 11 founders across the health, education, food systems, civic technology and workforce development sectors. It also received funding from more than 20 international Impact Hubs to develop SYNC, a collaboration platform that 25 Impact Hubs across five continents have committed to pilot. The organization has worked with local startups including Myoviva Health, The Change Lab and INNERVERSE Inc.

MarMo Innovation

Galveston-based business incubator MarMo Innovation is focused on removing barriers to entrepreneurship. It aims to provide affordable space, education, mentorship, market access, connections and real-world opportunities that help entrepreneurs move from idea to launch to sustainable growth. The "industry-agnostic" incubator was founded in 2022 and is led by Executive Director Erica Delgadillo.

This year, the organization moved from primarily serving as a coworking and community space into a more comprehensive entrepreneurial incubator by expanding its MarMo Market, MarMo Market Jr. and Lunch LineUp programs. A major focus for MarMo is food entrepreneurship. It is developing an Incubator Kitchen, which MarMo says will support programs like its Cottage to Commercial Bootcamp and Food Biz 101. The organization also expanded its board this year and says it is diversifying its revenue through memberships, events, markets, equipment and space rentals, sponsorships, grants and new entrepreneurial programming.

Baylor College of Medicine launches VC fund to invest in biotech startups

fresh funding

Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine just unveiled a new venture capital fund that backs early-stage biotech startups—and it’s already made its first investment.

BCM Legacy Fund I, funded by philanthropies, invested an undisclosed amount in Houston biotech startup Nemea Therapeutics. Nemea, a spinout of the Baylor College of Medicine and Germany’s Lead Discovery Center, is developing an oral drug to treat metastatic triple-negative breast cancer that no longer responds to currently available therapies.

This type of aggressive cancer spreads from the breast to other areas of the body, such as the bones, liver, lungs or brain. Roughly 38,000 to 57,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. One study showed about half of patients survive past the one-year mark following diagnosis and about one-third survive two years.

“Baylor College of Medicine’s laboratories produce discoveries with the potential to change patients’ lives, and too many of them stall where academic funding ends and private investment has not yet begun,” Dr. Jakub Tolar, president, CEO and executive dean of the Baylor College of Medicine, said in a press release. “The BCM Legacy Fund fills that gap, giving our scientists a path to advance their discoveries to patients.”

The National Institutes of Health awards more than $36 billion per year for biomedical research in the U.S., Baylor said. But some biomedical discoveries “never leave the starting line because they don’t yet fit the economics of venture capital,” the college said.

“The forefront of a new model”

The BCM Legacy Fund aggregates philanthropic capital from private foundations and donor-advised funds. It then invests in startups so they can move beyond that starting line and into later-stage investment rounds. The Greater Houston Community Foundation is the fund’s philanthropic partner.

“It’s exciting to be on the forefront of a new model for philanthropic capital,” said Houston entrepreneur and investor Burton Hanson, managing partner of the fund.

“Not only do we hope to solve a real problem by advancing these therapies to the patients who need them most, but we also hope this model will inspire others in the city and beyond toward philanthropic creativity and a posture of ‘I sacrifice; we win.’”

The fund expects to invest in about 15 early-stage startups over a five-year span. Baylor declined to divulge the amount of money in the fund and the size of the investment in Nemea.

Nemea’s “world-class chemistry”

Hanson oversees the Baylor fund alongside Chicago investor Steve Lehmann, who led the University of Chicago’s Innovation Fund.

Lehmann said Nemea, the fund’s first portfolio company, “has world-class chemistry, Baylor biology, and patients with no good options. Our job is to fund the experiments that carry it to the next handoff, so that industry and later-stage investors can take it from there.”

Based at Houston’s massive Texas Medical Center, Nemea plans to start clinical trials next year in collaboration with Baylor’s Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center.

Nemea previously received $9 million from the Lead Discovery Center and a $1.6 million grant from Baylor. Last year, the startup said it was seeking $25 million to $30 million in seed and Series A funding.

Debra McCoy of Houston, a former managing director at BlackRock and former partner at Bain & Co., and Paul Thomas, co-founder and CEO of Spring-based benefits manager Luscinia Health, sit on the Baylor fund’s governing board. Dr. Paul Klotman, former president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor, is a senior strategic adviser.

How does the fund find investment targets?

The Baylor Legacy Fund relies on two tools to help unearth early-stage biotech startups:

  • High-resolution “innovation maps” of research institutions. These maps surface hidden clusters of innovation, identify rising-star researchers and tie pockets of “innovation supply” at Baylor to areas of “innovation demand” in biotech.
  • AI-enhanced due diligence. AI agents assist with due diligence of early-stage biotech startups. The fund says the platform “distills the frameworks we’ve developed over a decade of teaching and investing into a flexible … diligence environment.”

MD Anderson unveils $3.4B expansion with two new Houston cancer care facilities

major expansion

The cutting edge of cancer-fighting technology and science is getting even sharper after MD Anderson announced last week that it will open two new facilities in the Texas Medical Center within the next five years. Inspiration Tower and Prism will expand MD Anderson’s annual patient load in the TMC to 250,000 annually and will incorporate a variety of new techniques.

The $3.4 billion project will add 2 million square feet to MD Anderson's TMC footprint, bringing its total campus size to 22 million square feet by 2032. Located at the corner of Fannin Street and Holcombe Boulevard, the cancer center says the two new facilities will serve as its new "front door" to the TMC.

“Every detail of these buildings, from the technology to the treatment rooms, was designed around our patients who will receive their care in them and our employees who will work in them. The facilities will serve as a physical representation of hope for the patients and their families who will walk through the doors,” Dr. Jeffrey E. Lee, president ad interim of UT MD Anderson, said in a news release. “Inspiration Tower and Prism are the future of cancer care, and we are grateful for the longstanding support and guidance we’ve received from the UT System Board of Regents to bring these projects to life. These facilities are part of the most impactful capital expansion in UT MD Anderson’s history.”

Prism is especially exciting as it will represent fully half of the linear accelerator treatment in the TMC. Linear accelerator is a radiation treatment that uses magnetically charged fields to deliver targeted external radiation therapy, like shooting cancer with a rail gun. The treatment is safer and has fewer side effects than older radiation treatments.

In addition, Prism will contain 12 MRI machines, four CT scanners, two PET-CT units, 18 radiation vaults and seven radiation simulators. Patient comfort has also been put at a premium with multiple gardens and roof overlooks.

“Every patient we treat deserves an environment that reflects the excellence of the care they receive at UT MD Anderson,” Chris McKee, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at UT MD Anderson, added in the release. “Our new facilities will be innovative, agile, adaptable and beautiful, and they will allow us to care for more patients, more effectively – in an environment that enhances healing and well-being. We are building for our future and for every patient who will be counting on us.”

Prism is slated to open in 2030.

Inspiration Tower will have 25 floors of surgical, diagnostic, and treatment services. At 1.4 million square feet, it’s currently expected to be the largest cancer-specific treatment facility in the United States. The tower will be divided into units for specific types of cancer, making it easy to integrate the advancing research being done all over Houston.

Like Prism, Inspiration Tower is specifically designed to offer comfort and reassurance, with more garden space, terraces, and beautiful scenery to ease patient distress. It is expected to open in 2032.

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