2 Houston professors named as fellows for prestigious group of inventors

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Omid Veiseh from Rice University and Edward Ratner from the University of Houston have been named 2024 National Academy of Inventors fellows for their innovative contributions. Courtesy photos

The highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors, the National Academy of Inventors, have elected two fellows from Rice University and the University of Houston for its 2024 class.

Edward Ratner, computer information systems lecturer in the Department of Information Science Technology at the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering, and Omid Veiseh, bioengineer at Rice University and director of the Biotech Launch Pad, were two of the 170 honorees representing 39 states and 12 countries.

The 2024 class will be honored and presented their medals on June 26 in Atlanta, Georgia by a senior official of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Ratner’s research includes artificial intelligence, machine learning, image analysis, video compression and video streaming, and has led to 40 patents currently. His inventions on adaptive video streaming assists the technology used today for streaming video over the internet. Ratner becomes the 40th UH faculty who is either a fellow or senior member of the NAI.

“Ed Ratner’s recognition as a Fellow of the NAI is a testament to his exceptional creativity, dedication and impact in advancing innovation,” Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president of energy and innovation at UH, says in a news release. “Here at the University of Houston, we take great pride in fostering a culture where visionary thinkers like Ed can thrive. This honor reflects not only his remarkable achievements but also the University’s commitment to shaping the future through groundbreaking research and invention.”

Veiseh is a current professor of bioengineering, a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar and faculty director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, which is a Houston-based accelerator that focuses on “expediting the translation of the university’s health and medical technology discoveries into cures,” according to a news release from Rice.

His research focuses on developing innovative treatments that involve combining synthetic biology, molecular engineering and advanced materials science. He also helped lead a $45 million project funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to create implantable cancer monitoring and treatment devices.

“It is our mission to make sure that scientific and technological advancements are translated from laboratory discoveries into life-saving cures and products that have a real and enduring impact on patients’ lives,” said Veiseh in a news release. “I am honored to be recognized by this distinguished award and would like to thank my collaborators at Rice and elsewhere for working toward this shared goal of improving lives through better, more effective treatments.”

In

2023, UH’s Vincent Donnelly, Moores professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Christine Ehlig-Economides, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished university chair of Petroleum Engineering, all received the Fellows honor. Other 2024 Texas-based fellows include Malcom Brenner from Baylor College of Medicine, Maria Croyle from The University of Texas at Austin, Jaime Grunlan from Texas A&M University, and more.
Rice’s Biotech Launch Pad will lead the effort to commercialize the device. Photo courtesy Rice University

Rice researchers secure $35M federal grant to advance medical device technology

big money

Rice University has secured part of a nearly $35 million federal grant aimed at commercializing a bioelectric implant for treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

The federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health awarded the $34.9 million grant to Rice and several other universities.

Rice’s Biotech Launch Pad will lead the effort to commercialize the self-contained, implantable Rx On-site Generation Using Electronics (ROGUE) device. ROGUE houses cells that are engineered to produce type 2 diabetes and obesity therapies in response to patients’ needs.

Carnegie Mellon University leads the team of researchers handling development and testing of ROGUE, which acts as a “living pharmacy” designed to make biologic drugs available on demand in a patient’s body.

The ROGUE initiative aims to keep the cost of this treatment significantly below the cost of other biologics-based treatments.

“ROGUE’s innovative design combines efficient biological manufacturing, long-term durability, and patient-friendly features that have the potential to transform the landscape of biologics delivery,” Omid Veiseh, professor of bioengineering and faculty director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, says in a news release.

Paul Wotton, an in-house entrepreneur at the university and executive director of the Rice accelerator, is helping guide ROGUE toward becoming an independent company.

“With the Biotech Launch Pad, our goal is venture creation in parallel to the groundbreaking research at Rice and its collaborating institutions,” Wotton says.

Omid Veiseh is professor of bioengineering and faculty director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad. Photo courtesy Rice University

The first of Rice University's new moonshot initiatives, the Rice Biotech Launch Pad was announced on the 61st anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's address at Rice Stadium. Photo by Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University

New biotech lab, accelerator emerges in Houston to speed up commercialization of life-saving cures

ready to launch

A new initiative from Rice University is launching with an ambitious goal — to take biotech innovations from concept to clinical trials in five years or less.

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad is a newly announced initiative that will expedite Rice University's health and medical technology innovations. The accelerator, which will occupy 15,000 square feet of space on campus, will be funded through federal grants and donations.

“The Rice Biotech Launch Pad will ensure that our faculty and students have the skills, partnerships, tools and support to create technologies that can transform our city and the world,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches says in a press release. “More importantly, the accelerator will provide a pathway for these creations and discoveries to be turned into medical cures that significantly impact people’s lives. Rice researchers have been doing this for years. This development will allow them to do even more and at a quicker, more efficient pace.”

Leading the program are two seasoned experts: associate professor of bioengineering at Rice, Omid Veiseh, and biotech entrepreneur Paul Wotton, who co-founded Avenge Bio and other startups with technology discovered in Veiseh’s lab. Veiseh will serve as faculty director, and Wotton will lead as executive director. Veiseh says the team behind the new lab will assist faculty in their mission to garner funding — via grants from organizations such as ARPA-H, DARPA and the NIH — as well as creating pathways for licensing revenue for the university.

“We have the infrastructure, financial backing and talent in Houston to do more in creating new medicines to cure disease," Veiseh says in the release. "This is a thriving environment that warrants more attention and dedication to bring forward Houston’s medical discoveries. I am proud to help make this happen.”

The accelerator’s founding advisory council members from Rice are:

  • Paul Cherukuri, Rice’s vice president for innovation.
  • Jacob Robinson, professor of electrical and computer engineering and of bioengineering and founder and CEO of Motif Neurotech.
  • Ashok Veeraraghavan, professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science and co-founder of Synopic.
  • Yael Hochberg, head of the Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Ralph S. O'Connor Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.

“The Biotech Launch Pad is the first in a series of Rice Moonshots that are hyper-focused on building a ‘speed and scale’ innovation ecosystem across Houston," Cherukuri says. "We at Rice are committed towards driving the Biotech Launch Pad in collaboration with our partners within the Texas Medical Center and the new Helix Park campus.”

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Houston manufacturer names location of its $193.7 million facility

coming soon

Houston-based manufacturer of high-temperature superconducting wires MetOx International Inc. will build a major production facility in Chatham County, North Carolina, which is expected to create 333 jobs, and invest $193.7 million in the state.

MetOx is a leader in High Temperature Superconducting technology (HTS), which is an advanced power delivery technology that is capable of transmitting extremely high power at low voltage with zero heat generation or energy loss. The technology is assisting in the energy sectors like power transmission, distribution, and grid expansion.

“Establishing our new large-scale manufacturing facility in Chatham County is a pivotal step toward securing a reliable, domestic supply of HTS wire for the development of critical infrastructure in the United States,” Bud Vos, CEO of MetOx, says in a news release. “This facility will not only deliver transformative energy technologies that strengthen our grid and reduce carbon emissions but also create high-paying manufacturing jobs in a community eager to lead in innovation. We are proud to partner with North Carolina to drive forward a resilient energy future built on cutting-edge science and strong local collaboration.”

The new facility is funded in part by an $80 million investment from the United States Department of Energy, which the company announced in October. In September, the company closed $25 million in a series B extension round.

In late 2024, MetOx also announced that it received an undisclosed investment from Hawaii-based Elemental Impact, which is a leading climate-focused investment platform. As a national implementation partner for the EPA's $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, Elemental Impact has received $100 million to deploy later-stage commercialized technologies according to the company.

The funding is expected to advance the expansion of MetOx’s Houston production line and the deployment of its HTS wire, which can make transmission cables up to ten times more efficient than traditional copper cables and will be used at the North Carolina facility.

“Building domestic manufacturing capacity for critical grid technologies is essential for America’s energy future," Danya Hakeem, vice president of Portfolio at Elemental Impact, says in a news release. “MetOx’s expansion in Houston demonstrates how we can simultaneously advance grid modernization and create quality manufacturing jobs. Their technology represents exactly the kind of innovation needed to unlock the next wave of clean energy deployment.”

The project in North Carolina will be facilitated with a Job Development Investment Grant formally awarded to a new company being created by MetOx. In the 12-year term of the grant, economists in the Department of Commerce estimated the project will grow North Carolina’s economy by $987.8 million.

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This article originally was published on our sister site, EnergyCapital.

Houston Nobel Prize nominee earns latest award for public health research

Prized Research

Houston vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez can add one more prize to his shelf.

Hotez — dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics — is no stranger to impressive laurels. In 2022, he was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his low-cost COVID vaccine.

His first big win of 2025 is this year’s Hill Prize, awarded by the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST).

Hotez and his team were selected to receive $500,000 from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to help fund The Texas Virosphere Project. The endeavor was born to help create a predictive disease atlas relating to climate disasters. Because the climate crisis has ushered in changes to the distribution of diseases, including dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Chagas disease, typhus and tick-borne relapsing fever, it’s important to predict outbreaks before they become a menace.

Rice University researchers are collaborating with Hotez and his team on a project that combines climate science and metagenomics to access 3,000 insect genomes. The goal is to aid health departments in controlling disease and informing policy.

The Hill Prize, which is being awarded to six innovators for the first time, thanks to a $10 million commitment from the philanthropic organization, is intended to back ideas that are high-risk and high-reward. Each of the projects was chosen for its potential real-life impact on some of Texas's — and the world’s — most challenging situations. Hotez’s prize is the first Hill Prize to be given in the realm of public health. The additional winners are:

  • Hill Prize in Medicine: Kenneth M. Hargreaves, D.D.S., Ph.D., The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
  • Hill Prize in Engineering: Joan Frances Brennecke, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin
  • Hill Prize in Biological Sciences: David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center
  • Hill Prize in Physical Sciences: James Chelikowsky, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
  • Hill Prize in Technology: Robert De Lorenzo, M.D., EmergenceMed, LLC
Read about other Houston-area researchers recognized by TAMEST here.

How Houston's cost of living compares to other major Texas cities in 2025

Calculating Costs

A new cost-of-living index yields a result that many Houstonians will find surprising: Houston is not the most expensive place to live in Texas. Dallas and Austin are costlier.

Numbeo’s cost-of-living index for 2025 shows Dallas ranks first in Texas and 24th in North America, landing at 65.8. The cost-of-living index compares the cost of living in New York City (which sits at 100) with the cost of living in another city. Austin is at 61.7, Houston at 60.6, and San Antonio at 58.8.

Houston ranks 40th overall in North America, out of 52 cities in the index.

Numbeo’s cost-of-living index takes into account the cost of items like groceries, restaurant meals, transportation, and utilities. The index excludes rent.

When rent is added to the cost-of-living index, Houston is still third among Texas cities. Dallas grabs the No. 21 spot in North America (57.1), one notch above Austin (56.6). Houston ranks 35th (51.4), and San Antonio ranks 42nd (34.6).

Rent index
While Dallas holds the top Texas spot on Numbeo’s overall cost-of-living index, Austin faces the highest rent prices. Numbeo's rent index for Austin sits at 50.1, putting it in 12th place among major cities in North America and highest in Texas, above the indexes for Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Houston lands at 27th.

The rent index in New York City, which tops the list, is 100. As Numbeo explains, the rent index estimates the cost of renting an apartment in a city compared with New York City. If the rent index is 50, for example, this suggests the average rent in that city is 50 percent below the average rent in New York City.

Around Texas, the rent index is:

  • 46.2 in Dallas
  • 39.8 in Houston
  • 34.6 in San Antonio

Restaurant index
In contrast to its showing on the rent and cost-of-living indexes, Houston outranks Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio on Numbeo’s restaurant index. This index compares the prices of meals and drinks at restaurants and bars to those in New York City.

Houston sits at No. 25 on the restaurant index, at 68.9. Dallas comes in at No. 32 (67.1), Austin at No. 34 (66.6), and San Antonio at No. 36 (65.2).

The National Restaurant Association reported in December that menu prices in the U.S. had risen 3.6 percent in the past 12 months, outpacing gains in grocery prices and the federal government’s overall Consumer Price Index. Fortunately for diners, that was the smallest 12-month increase in menu prices since August 2020, according to the association.

Toast, which provides a cloud-based restaurant management system, says the higher menu prices reflect higher food prices.

“Food prices have been increasing due to inflation, labor expenses, fuel costs, and supply chain disruptions, all of which impact restaurant profitability, Toast says. “While raising menu prices is one option to combat rising food costs, some restaurants have introduced service charges and simplified menus to avoid passing all costs onto customers.”

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap.com.

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