Houston recognized for its workforce among top life science cities

we're no. 13

Houston — home to the Texas Medical Center — has made the cut for top life science metros. Photo via Getty Images

Of the top 25 United States metros ranked as the best for life science, Houston came in at lucky No. 13.

CommercialCafe issued a report this month ranking the top 25 U.S. cities for life science, factoring in volume of life science patents, number of life science establishments, size of workforce, educational institutions, office market, and more.

Houston stood out on the report for a few metrics. It might not be surprising, as Houston is home to the world's largest medical center, but the city boasts the 10th largest workforce with 5,100 workers employed in industry related occupations, the report found. Additionally, the city ranked:

No. 8 for life science education — more than 860,000 area residents aged 25 years or older hold a bachelor’s degree in an industry related field.
No. 9 for life science establishments — which has increased 23 percent since 2018 to a total of nearly 3,300.
No. 9 for life science square footage added — with roughly 840,000 square feet of new life sciences projects currently in development

As positive as the report finds Houston's life science market, the ranking represents a decrease in ranking compared to 2022 where Houston scored a spot in the top 10. In fact, Houston can't even claim the top spot in the Lone Star State. No Texas cities made the top 10, but the Dallas area secured the No. 11 ranking. Dallas was also ranked highly for its talent pool.

Meanwhile in central Texas, Austin claimed the No. 22 spot. The full ranking is below.

www.commercialcafe.com

Conveniently, CBRE, which also ranks the top life science markets every year, agrees with CommercialCafe's ranking of Houston. The 2023 report placed Houston at No. 13, which is exactly where the Bayou City ranked in 2022. However, according to CBRE, Houston ranks ahead of Dallas and Austin, which both still claimed rankings in the top 25.

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Mercury Data Science has officially rebranded as OmniScience. Photo via Getty Images

Houston data science firm rebrands to focus on the intersection of AI and life science

introducing OmniScience

A Houston organization established to provide critical data science support to its clients has rebranded and entered into its latest era.

Mercury Data Science has officially rebranded as OmniScience. Founded in 2017 as a spin off of Mercury, a local venture capital group, the data science-focused software company is led by CEO Angela Holmes, who was named to the position in 2022.

"OmniScience signifies our commitment to being a force of innovation in data science and life sciences," Holmes says in the release. "The new brand mirrors our vision for the future, where data science is a driving force for positive change in life sciences."

Angela Holmes is the CEO of OmniScience. Photo via mercuryds.com

Per the news release, the rebranding aligns the company with its mission of supporting innovation at the intersection of biology and data science. The new name reflects the combination of "omniscient" and "science," according to the company.

OmniScience's technology helps its customers across the life science spectrum with navigating key data insights for clinical trials, purpose-built AI development, and other data science services, according to its website.

"This rebrand represents more than just a name change; it signals a bold step into the future, where OmniScience will play a pivotal role in shaping the data science landscape in life sciences," reads the release.

The firm is based out of Texas Medical Center Innovation and has over 20 employees listed on the website.

Atul Varadhachary of Fannin joins the Houston Innovators Podcast. Photo via LinkedIn

Houston innovator plays the long game of life science innovation with optimized capital efficiency

HOUSTON INNOVATORS PODCAST EPISODE 222

Commercializing a life science innovation that has the potential to enhance or even save the lives of millions of patients is a marathon, not a sprint. That's how Atul Varadhachary thinks of it, and he's leading an organization that's actively running that race for several different early-stage innovations.

For over a decade, Fannin has worked diligently to develop promising life science innovations — that start as just an idea or research subject — by garnering grant funding and using its team of expert product developers to build out the technology or treatment. The model is different from what you'd see at an accelerator or incubator, and it also varies from the path taken by an academic or research institution.

The life science innovation timeline is very different from a software startup's, which can get to an early prototype in less than a year.

"In biotech, to get to that minimally viable product, it can take a decade and tens of millions of dollars," Varadhachary, managing director at Fannin, says on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

Fannin addresses what Varadhachary calls a twin bottleneck in Houston's life science innovation ecosystem. Not only does Houston not attract the funding biotech startups need desperately to grow their companies, but hiring is a major issue as the city isn't home to an established labor pool of experienced product developers within the industry.

"The challenge is that product development is more complex — it requires innovation, but that's not sufficient. When you ask people why we lag in the product development in the life sciences — although we are home to the largest medical center in the country, we don't even make list of top 10 biotech clusters — the usual answer is that we don't have enough biotech investors," Varadhachary says.

"But that puts the cart before the horse," he continues. "Investors invest in people not just ideas. Although we have an amazing pool of researchers and clinicians, we lack experienced product developers."

In more ways than one, Fannin is addressing this problem. For all of its several ongoing programs, Fannin acts as the leadership team for the technologies. Its core employees — there are about 20 currently — work on all of the companies, which are developing a range life science innovations, from Brevitest, a point-of-use immunoassay platform, to Procyrion, an intra-aortic pump for congestive heart failure patients.

Fannin's programs also range in stage, which Varadhachary outlines on the show to be three different phases. The earliest stage programs will have Fannin's team working directly on early testing, product development, and grant writing, while the later stage programs will have built out a dedicated team and raise venture investment.

Another way Fannin is addressing Houston's lack of life science product developers is through its Fannin Talent Development Program, which has given around 350 individuals an opportunity to gain critical product development experience.

With 10 years under its belt, Fannin — as well as the greater Houston life science innovation ecosystem — is at a point where it can soon produce exits needed to firm up Houston as a life science leader.

"Clearly, we've got the base elements required to be a successful ecosystem, and they continue to grow," Varadhachary says of Houston. "Typically you need one or two really big success stories — especially if those success stories result in a company being sold, leaving behind experienced product developers with money in their pockets — that's often what will supercharge the next cycle of development. I'm hoping that will happen in Houston in the next five years, decade, or so."

Here's what Houston organizations are benefitting from the latest CPRIT funding announcement. Photo via Getty Images

Houston organizations snag chunk of recently announced $49M cancer research grant funding

show me the money

Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine is beefing up its team of cancer researchers.

The college just received $6 million from the state agency Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to recruit three cancer researchers: Graham Erwin, Michael Robertson and Dr. Varun Venkataramani. Each researcher is getting $2 million.

In addition, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center snagged a $2 million CPRIT grant to recruit Simon Eschweiler.

In all, CPRIT recently announced $49 million in cancer research and prevention grants, including nearly $24 million for recruitment of cancer researchers.

Here’s a rundown of the recruitment grants awarded in Houston:

Graham Erwin. Erwin is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University’s Stanford Cancer Institute. He’s a biologist who specializes in DNA sequencing related to the development of cancer therapeutics and diagnostics.
Michael Robertson. Robertson also is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford. He focuses on molecular and cellular physiology at Stanford’s medical school.
Dr. Varun Venkataramani. Venkataramani, a neuroscientist, is a brain tumor researcher at University Hospital Heidelberg, one of the largest hospitals in Germany.
Simon Eschweiler. Eschweiler is a research assistant professor at Southern California’s La Jolla Institute for Immunology. He specializes in immunotherapy for cancer patients.

Aside from the recruitment grants, three institutions in the Houston area received nearly $6 million in funding for cancer treatment and prevention programs. Here’s an overview of those grants:

Almost $2.5 million for expansion of a program at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston that supplies HPV vaccinations for new mothers.
Nearly $2.5 million for an MD Anderson program that promotes physical activity for cancer survivors.
Almost $500,000 for an MD Anderson program to increase treatment of tobacco users who are participating in opioid treatment programs.
Nearly $500,000 for a University of Houston program designed to help LGBTQ+ Texans lead tobacco-free lives.

“From new research programs, recruitment of preeminent scientists to Texas, pilot studies, new technology, and expanding the reach of successful cancer prevention programs, [the] grants highlight the effect CPRIT is having on not just cancer research and prevention efforts, but on life science infrastructure in Texas,” Wayne Roberts, the organization’s CEO, said in a news release.

From 2016 to 2021, the Houston area saw the third largest jump in students earning degrees in biology and biomedicine. Photo via Getty Images

Houston maintains a leader in annual life science report

lucky number 13

Houston is a rising star when it comes to developing homegrown talent in life sciences research.

From 2016 to 2021, the Houston area saw the third largest jump in students earning degrees in biology and biomedicine among 25 major life sciences markets, according to a new report from commercial real estate services company CBRE.

Houston saw a 38 percent spike in the number of degrees granted during the five-year span, according to the report. Only Phoenix (91 percent) and Riverside-San Bernardino, California (47 percent) bested Houston in this category.

The report shows Houston produced the 20th largest number of graduates and certificate holders (1,832) in biological and biomedical sciences in 2021.

Overall, Houston appears at No. 13 in CBRE’s ranking of the top U.S. market for life sciences talent. That matches Houston’s ranking in last year’s report. Factors that go into the ranking include the number of life sciences graduates, concentration of high-ranking universities and institutions, and density of talent.

“We need a strong pool of graduates to continue expanding the life sciences industry in the U.S.,” Scott Carter, senior vice president of CBRE, says in a news release. “The world-class universities like University of Houston, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Rice University, and others offer best-in-class programs for graduates, making Houston a top market for life science research talent.”

In terms of the number of life sciences graduates produced in 2021, the University of Houston ranks first (719 grads) among local colleges and universities, followed by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (244), Rice University (243), the University of Houston-Clear Lake (139), and Prairie View A&M University (103), according to the CBRE report.

If those grads remain in the Houston area, they’re likely to land lucrative jobs. The report outlines average wages in the region for four career categories in life sciences:

Biochemist — $118,018
Biophysicist — $117,736
Biomedical engineer — $108,113
Chemist — $97,887

In 2022, Houston employed 8,480 people in life sciences occupations, making it the country’s 12th largest pool of life sciences research talent, says CBRE.

“Demand for life sciences research workers is above pre-pandemic levels,” Matt Gardner, life sciences leader at CBRE Advisory Services, says in a news release. “We’re also seeing a closely balanced ratio of hiring to job cuts in the biopharma industry compared with the technology sector and the broader economy, which positions the life sciences to remain stable despite an economic downturn.”

A handful of Houston startups were selected for a national accelerator program. Photo via Getty Images

4 Houston startups selected for preeminent medtech accelerator

ready to grow

Four Houston startups have been selected for the 2023 cohort of the MedTech Innovator’s four-month accelerator program.

Los Angeles-based MedTech Innovator, which bills itself as the world’s largest medtech accelerator, will award $800,000 in funding to winners of its competitions throughout the 2023 program. The grand prize is $350,000.

Almost 1,200 startups applied to participate in this year’s accelerator. From that group, MedTech Innovator, its corporate partners, and more than 400 judges picked nearly 200 candidates for in-person pitching and partnering events. Sixty-one startups ultimately were chosen for the 2023 cohort, which kicks off June 14 and 15.

Forty-two of the 61 startups will participate in MedTech Innovator’s corporate mentorship program, and five companies will join a plastic surgery accelerator in conjunction with the American Society for Plastic Surgeons.

MedTech Innovator says more than 500 startups have completed its accelerator program and have secured $6.8 billion in follow-on funding.

“We are proud of our stellar track record of identifying and perfecting the most innovative medtech startups in the world,” Paul Grand, CEO and founder of MedTech Innovator, says in a news release.

The four Houston companies selected for the MedTech Accelerator’s 2023 cohort are:

Ankr. The startup (whose name is pronounced “anchor”) provides a caregiving platform for cancer patients in the U.S. As of 2022, there were an estimated 18.1 million cancer survivors across the country. The company won The Ion’s Houston Startup Showcase in 2021.
NeuraStasis. The startup is developing an electrical stimulation device to delay the effects of acute ischemic stroke. This type of stroke happens when blood flow to the brain decreases. Acute ischemic stroke affects about 700,000 people in the U.S. each year. The company was selected for last year’s cohort of the UCSF Rosenman Institute’s Rosenman Innovators program.
Nininger Medical. The startup is working on a device for minimally invasive replacement of the tricuspid valve. Today, an estimated 1.6 million Americans experience tricuspid regurgitation. This type of heart disease occurs when the tricuspid valve’s flaps don’t close correctly. In 2021, the company received a $256,000 National Science Foundation grant.
Prana Thoracic. The startup is developing a tool for minimally invasive removal of lung tissue in lung cancer patients. In March, the company announced $3 million in series A funding.

Last year, three Houston companies were selected for the program. The startups — Ad Vital, Corveus Medical, and CorInnova.

Over 1,000 companies applied to participate in the 2023 MedTech Innovator Accelerator, 200 pitched in person, and 61 startups were selected. Graphic via https://medtechinnovator.org/

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6 Houston health tech startups making major advancements right now

meet the finalists

Home to leading hospitals, universities and health-focused incubators, Houston is a breeding ground for innovative medical technology and breakthroughs that can improve outcomes and lead to a better quality of life for patients.

The Health Tech Business category in our 2025 Houston Innovation Awards will honor an innovative startup within the health and medical technology sectors.

Six forward-thinking businesses have been named finalists for the 2025 award. They range from an end-of-life care company to others developing devices and systems for heart monitoring, sleep apnea, hearing loss and more.

Read more about these businesses, their innovative founders, and how they're shaping the future of health care below. Then join us at the Houston Innovation Awards on Nov. 13 at Greentown Labs, when the winner will be unveiled at our live awards ceremony.

Tickets are now on sale for this exclusive event celebrating all things Houston Innovation.

Bairitone Health

Bairitone Health is bringing anatomy imaging for sleep apnea to the home environment. The company's platform maps users' anatomy during natural sleep using a facial patch to determine the root cause of airway obstruction. It then offers effective therapies for each patient. The system is currently in the research and development phase and is being used in clinical trials and studies.

The company was founded in 2022 in the Texas Medical Center's Biodesign program by CEO Meagan Pitcher, CTO Onur Kilic and chief medical officer Britt Cross. It was a member of Activate Houston's inaugural cohort and has participated in numerous accelerators and incubators. It raised a pre-seed round last year of $435,000.

Corveus Medical

Corveus Medical has developed a novel catheter device that allows cardiologists to perform a splanchnic nerve ablation, restoring the pressure balance in patients with moderate heart failure. Its pre-FDA-approved, minimally invasive solution deactivates a nerve that has been demonstrated to be a root cause behind heart failure progression, which allows physicians to treat patients who have traditionally had few options.

The company, formerly known as Caridian Medical, was founded in 2021 by CEO Tyler Melton and CMO Ishan Kamat. It has participated in incubators such as TMC Biodesign, Y Combinator, MedTech Innovator and Fogarty Innovation and was named one of the 10 most promising life science companies at Texas Life Science Forum in 2022. The company says it will move toward validation and verification testing for its device in Q4 of this year.

FibroBiologics

Regenerative medicine company FibroBioligics uses fibroblasts, the body’s most common type of cell, rather than stem cells, to help grow new cells to repair tissue and modulate the immune system. The cell therapies offer treatments for chronic conditions such as degenerative disc disease, multiple sclerosis and non-healing wounds.

The publicly traded company was founded in 2021 by CEO Pete O'Heeron. It opened a new 10,000-square-foot Houston lab earlier this year to scale up research efforts and pave the way for in-house manufacturing. The company says it plans to launch its first clinical trial for diabetic foot ulcers soon, representing the transition of its fibroblast technology to the clinic setting.

Koda Health

Koda Health has developed an advance care planning platform (ACP) that allows users to document and share their care preferences, goals and advance directives for health systems. The web-based platform guides patients through values-based decisions with interactive tools and generates state-specific, legally compliant documents that integrate seamlessly with electronic health record systems. The company also added kidney action planning to its suite of services for patients with serious illnesses last year.

Koda Health was founded out of the TMC's Biodesign Fellowship in 2020 by CEO Tatiana Fofanova, chief medical officer Dr. Desh Mohan, and chief technology officer Katelin Cherry. The company raised a $7 million series A earlier this year, and also announced major partnerships and integrations with Epic, Guidehealth, Medical Home Network, Privia Health and others.

NanoEar

NanoEar has miniaturized hearing aid technology so that it can be implanted across the eardrum, allowing adults with age-related hearing loss to enjoy better sound quality than they would with behind-the-ear hearing aids.

Dr. Ron Moses, an ENT specialist and surgeon at Houston Methodist, developed the technology, and the company was founded in 2016 with CFO Willem Vermaat and COO Michael Moore. The company participated in the TMC Innovation Institute in 2016. It has issued nine U.S. patents and performed successful human cadaver and animal proof-of-concept experiments. Its next step is developing a prototype.

Wellysis USA

Wellysis USA Inc. works to detect heart rhythm disorders with its continuous ECG/EKG monitor with AI reporting. Its S-Patch cardiac monitor is designed for extended testing periods of up to 14 days on a single battery charge. The device weighs only 9 grams, is waterproof and designed to be comfortable to wear, and is considered to have a high detection rate for arrhythmias. It is ideally suited for patient-centric clinical trials to help physicians make diagnoses faster, cheaper and more conveniently.

It was established in Houston in 2023 and participated in the JLABS SFF Program the same year. It closed a $12 million series B last year. It was founded by CEO Young Juhn, CTO Rick Kim, CFO JungSoo Kim and chief strategy officer JoongWoo Kim.

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Houston university is at the top of the class in new college ranking

Top of the Class

Rice University is maintaining its reputation as one of the top colleges in the U.S., according to a new batch of rankings from WalletHub.

Rice topped WalletHub's 2026 lists comparing the best colleges and universities in Texas and the best universities in the South. The private institution also ranked as the 9th best university in the country, three spots lower than its 2024 ranking.

The personal finance website's experts analyzed nearly 800 colleges and universities in the U.S. using 30 key metrics, including factors like student-faculty ratios, graduation rates, campus safety, and many more.

Rice was ranked across seven major categories in the report and scored highly for its faculty resources (No. 10), student educational outcomes (No. 12), student selectivity (No. 16), student career outcomes (No. 26), and campus experience (No. 46).

The only two categories Rice lagged behind in were campus safety (No. 576) and cost and financing (No. 700). U.S. News & World Report says tuition and fees at Rice can add up to more than $65,000 per year for in-state students, with the total cost soaring to nearly $84,000 when factoring in the price for housing, food, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.

In addition to topping WalletHub's rankings, Rice has also claimed top spots in other prestigious lists by U.S. News, Forbes, The Princeton Review, and more. Rice's revered graduate schools – including the MBA program at the Jones Graduate School of Business and Brown School of Engineering and Computing – are also among the best in the country, according to U.S. News and The Princeton Review.

Locally, University of Houston also ranked among the statewide top 10 and ranked as the 268th best university in the U.S. for 2026. In the regional rankings of best universities in the South, UH ranked 52nd on the list

The 10 best colleges and universities in Texas for 2026 are:

No. 1 – Rice University, Houston
No. 2 – The University of Texas at Austin
No. 3 – Trinity University, San Antonio
No. 4 – Texas A&M University-College Station
No. 5 – Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
No. 6 – Austin College, Sherman
No. 7 – Southwestern University, Georgetown
No. 8 – University of Dallas
No. 9 – The University of Texas at Dallas
No. 10 – University of Houston

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Port Houston reports emissions progress as cargo volumes climb

Greener growth

Port Houston’s initiatives to reduce emissions have shown some positive results, according to new data from the Port of Houston Authority.

Pulling from the Goods Movement Emissions Inventory (GMEI) report, which tracks port-related air emissions, Port Houston cited several improvements compared to the most recent report from 2019.

The port has seen total tonnage and container volumes increase by 16 percent and 28 percent, respectively, since 2019. However, greenhouse gas emissions have increased at a slower rate, growing only by 10 percent during the same time period, according to the data.

Additionally, emissions of nitrogen oxide fell by 7 percent, and emissions of particulate matter fell by 4 percent, despite adding 280 more pieces of cargo handling equipment.

“These results show that our emission-reduction efforts are working, and we are moving in the right direction,” Chairman Ric Campo said in a news release.

The Port Commission also recently approved items related to the $3 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Ports Program (CPP) grant, which it received last year. The items will allow the port to work towards five new sustainability initiatives.

They include:

An inventory of the port’s Scopes 1, 2, and 3 for greenhouse gas emissions
A Port Area Climate Action Plan for the area and surrounding communities
A CPP Truck Route Analysis
Creation of the CPP Trucking Industry Collaborative
Design of a customized website for Port of Houston Partners in Maritime Education, which is a non-profit leading maritime workforce development effort in local schools

Port Houston aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

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