3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Dr. William Cohn of BiVACOR, Rebecca Richards-Kortum of Rice University, and Michael Suffredini of Axiom Space. Photos courtesy

Editor's note: Every week, I introduce you to a handful of Houston innovators to know recently making headlines with news of innovative technology, investment activity, and more. This week's batch includes a Houston heart innovator, a cancer researcher, and space tech founder.

Dr. William Cohn, chief medical officer at BiVACOR

Why this Houston medical device innovator is pumped up for the first total artificial heart

Dr. William Cohn is the chief medical officer for BiVACOR, a medical device company creating the first total artificial heart. Photo via TMC

It's hard to understate the impact Dr. William Cohn has had on cardiovascular health as a surgeon at the Texas Heart Institute or on health care innovation as the director of the Center for Device Innovation at the Texas Medical Center. However, his role as chief medical officer of BiVACOR might be his most significant contribution to health care yet.

The company's Total Artificial Heart is unlike any cardiovascular device that's existed, Cohn explains on the Houston Innovators Podcast. While most devices are used temporarily for patients awaiting a heart transplant, BiVACOR's TAH has the potential to be a permanent solution for the 200,000 patients who die of heart failure annually. Last year, only around 4,000 patients were able to receive heart transplants.

"Artificial hearts historically have had bladders that ejected and filled 144,000 times a day. They work great for temporary support, but no one is suggesting they are permanent devices," Cohn says on the show. Read more.

Rebecca Richards-Kortum, director of the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies

Rebecca Richards-Kortum, a Rice bioengineering professor and director of the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, is the lead PI on the project. Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

The Biden-Harris administration is deploying $150 million as a part of its Cancer Moonshot initiative, and a research team led by Rice University is getting a slice of that pie.

AccessPath is a novel, affordable, slide-free pathology system that helps surgeons determine if they have completely removed tumors during surgery. Rebecca Richards-Kortum, a Rice bioengineering professor and director of the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, is the lead PI on the project that is receiving up to $18 million over five years from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).

“Because of its low cost, high speed, and automated analysis, we believe AccessPath can revolutionize real-time surgical guidance, greatly expanding the range of hospitals able to provide accurate intraoperative tumor margin assessment and improving outcomes for all cancer surgery patients,” Richards-Kortum says. Read more.

Michael Suffredini, co-founder of Axiom Space

Axiom Space Co-founder Michael Suffredini is stepping down as CEO. Photo courtesy of Axiom Space

Houston-based space exploration company Axiom Space is searching for a new CEO. Co-founder Mike Suffredini stepped down effective August 9 as CEO. He cites unidentified personal reasons for his transition from CEO to company advisor. Suffredini remains a board member of Axiom Space.

Co-founder Kam Ghaffarian, the company’s executive chairman, is serving as interim CEO until Axiom Space taps Suffredini’s permanent successor. Read more.

AccessPath is a novel, affordable, slide-free pathology system that helps surgeons determine if they have completely removed tumors during surgery. Photo via Getty Images

Promising Houston cancer research project wins $18M grant

fresh funding

The Biden-Harris administration is deploying $150 million as a part of its Cancer Moonshot initiative, and a research team led by Rice University is getting a slice of that pie.

The project is focused on two types of cancer, breast and head and neck cancer, and Ashok Veeraraghavan, chair of Rice’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science, is a co-PI and Tomasz Tkaczyk, a professor of bioengineering and electrical and computer engineering at Rice, is also a collaborator on the project.

AccessPath is addressing the challenge surgeons face of identifying the margin where tumor tissue ends and health tissue begins when removing tumors. The project not only hopes to provide a more exact solution but do so in an affordable way.

“Precise margin assessment is key to the oncologic success of any cancer operation,” adds Dr. Ana Paula Refinetti, an associate professor in the Department of Breast Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and one of the lead surgeons PIs on the project. “The development of a new low-cost technology that enables immediate margin assessment could transform the landscape of surgical oncology — particularly in low-resource settings, reducing the number of repeat interventions, lowering cancer care costs and improving patient outcomes.”

The project optimizing margin identification with a fast-acting, high-resolution microscope, effective fluorescent stains for dying tumor margins, and artificial intelligence algorithms.

AccessPath is a collaboration between Rice and MD Anderson Cancer Center, other awardees in the grant include the University of Texas Health School of Dentistry, Duke University, Carnegie Mellon University and 3rd Stone Design.

“AccessPath is exactly the kind of life-changing research and health care innovation we are proud to produce at Rice, where we’re committed to addressing and solving the world’s most pressing medical issues,” Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Rice’s executive vice president for research, says in the release. “Partnering with MD Anderson on this vital work underscores the importance of such ongoing collaborations with our neighbors in the world’s largest medical center. I am thrilled for Rebecca and her team; it’s teamwork that makes discoveries like these possible.”

Rebecca Richards-Kortum, a Rice bioengineering professor and director of the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, is the lead PI on the project. Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

The Center for Innovation and Translation of POC Technologies for Equitable Cancer Care, or CITEC, will be managed through Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies. Photo via Getty Images

Rice-led initiative looks to make cancer detection affordable, equitable

future of health care

A new initiative from two Houston organizations is hoping to develop affordable health care innovation for early cancer detection.

The Center for Innovation and Translation of POC Technologies for Equitable Cancer Care, or CITEC, will be managed through Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, which is part of an ongoing international effort to prepare the future global health workforce.

Rice will be joined by Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Sao Paulo, Barretos Cancer Hospital in Brazil, Mozambique Ministry of Health, and Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, Mozambique.

“While early detection and treatment of cancer can improve survival, available tests for early cancer detection are too complex or too expensive for hospitals and clinics in medically underserved areas,” CITEC co-principal investigator Rebecca Richards-Kortum, a Rice bioengineering professor and director of Rice360, says in a news release.

The project is part of a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to launch a top-tier research center in the Texas Medical Center to develop point-of-care technologies that improve early cancer detection in low-resource in America and internationally that are effective and affordable. Rice’s leading collaboration group to help secure the grant includes engineers, oncologists and international global health partners from three continents. in low-resource settings in the United States and other countries.

CITEC will aim to target development of POC tests for oral, cervical and gastrointestinal cancers through the first-year grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) of $1.3 million—up to $6.5 million over five years. CITEC is funded by a NIBIB grant.

Last month, NIBIB announced that CITEC will be one of six research centers that it will support, along with an additional center, through its Point of Care Technology Research Network (POCTRN).

Dr. Sharmila Anandasabapathy, vice president of global health at Baylor College of Medicine, and Tomasz Tkaczyk, bioengineering professor at Rice, are the other two cco-principals on the initiative.

“CITEC will identify needed technologies, accelerate their development, evaluate their performance and impact in diverse settings and train local users and technology developers to create and disseminate more equitable POC technologies,” Anandasabapathy says in the release.

Rice 360˚ Institute of Global Health's student innovators created projects and devices — from disinfecting devices and optimized intubation tools — that respond to challenges presented by COVID-19. Courtesy of Rice University

Rice University students collaborate on COVID-19 solutions

game changers

An annual program with Rice University and its partners in Africa had to do things differently in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did operations have to shift to a virtual approach, but the projects themselves instead addressed the needs created by the disease.

Rice 360˚ Institute for Global Health, which collaborates with the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) and the University of Malawi, The Polytechnic (Poly), continued their annual programming virtually over six weeks. The collaboration brings students together to solve global health issues, and this year's issue to address was overwhelmingly COVID-19.

"We had to give a lot of thought to whether we might have to cancel the program, and that was really heartbreaking to think about," says Rice 360˚ Director Rebecca Richards-Kortum, professor of bioengineering, in a news release. "Back in those days of late March and early April, I never really imagined how wonderful the virtual internship program could be."

Thirteen undergraduate interns and eight teaching assistants from Rice and Malawi, worked on six different projects, and three were presented in an online event on July 16. Here were the projects that were presented.

A disinfecting system that has the capability to sterilize multiple N95 masks at once. The system uses ultraviolet lights that can kill the coronavirus in around 30 minutes. Alternatively, the project included a smaller version that could be powered by solar energy. Yankholanga Pelewelo of MUST, Carolyn Gonawamba of Poly, and Andrew Abikhaled and Bhavya Gopinath of Rice developed the technology.
A walk-in decontamination unit that can decontaminate up to 3,000 people per day. The team of interns developed a prototype that consisted of PVC frame covered in plastic with nozzles to spray disinfectant. The project has already received interest from labs and hospitals for the device. Team members included Brenald Dzonzi of Poly, Mwayi Yellewa of MUST, and Kaitlyn Heintzelman, Krystal Cheung, and Sana Mohamed of Rice.
A redesigned intubation box that gives doctors better access to patients during the procedure. More than half of the 3,000 health care workers who have died from the coronavirus were doctors who focused on respiratory procedures, the team pointed out, and this daunting fact calls for redesigned tools. In total, the student innovators pitched three different designs that each included armholes in the sides, with a third hole on top to let a clinician or nurse assist with the procedure. The student team consisted of Chikumbutso Walani of Poly, Ruth Mtuwa of MUST, and Lauren Payne and Austin Hwang of Rice.

The other three projects included in the program but didn't present were designs for face shields, a hand sanitizer station and a contactless temperature monitor. All of the projects were led by teaching assistants Aubrey Chikunda and Chisomo Mukoka from MUST; Hannah Andersen, Nimisha Krishnaswamy, Alex Lammers and Ben Zaltsman of Rice; and Hope Chilunga and Francis Chilomo from Poly.

While pivoting the program to virtual comes with its challenges, Maria Oden — a professor of bioengineering, director of Rice's Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen and director of Rice 360˚ — recognizes the opportunities it provides as well.

"It would have been easy and understandable to cancel this internship, but that's not what happened, and look what the result was," Oden says in the release. "Over 90 people have tuned in to see the work of the interns. That's something we've never achieved with our in-person internships. We can learn from this experience."

Rice 360° Virtual Internship Highlights – Summer 2020www.youtube.com

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Houston Methodist receives record $110M gift, names future tower

historic gift

Houston Methodist has received the largest gift in the health system's history to establish new funds for neurological, neuroscience, and women’s health research and treatment.

The $110 million gift comes from Houston-based The Brockman Medical Research Foundation, which supports education and research in the science, medicine and healthcare fields. In response, Houston Methodist announced that it will name its forthcoming 26-story hospital facility the Brockman Centennial Tower.

The tower’s entrance will be named the Anna Margaret Bellows Centennial Hall to honor Anna Margaret Bellows, a young camper who died during the Camp Mystic flooding last summer.

“This extraordinary gift accelerates discovery and transforms how care is delivered,” Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist, said in a news release. “We are grateful to The Brockman Medical Research Foundation for its incredible generosity and vision that will help change the lives of generations of patients. Naming Centennial Tower in recognition of this gift reflects the scale of this commitment and its impact on the future of neuroscience, neurological care and women’s health.”

The gift will be divided into two parts:

$100 million will go toward creating an innovation fund within the Houston Methodist Academic Institute and the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute
$10 million will be devoted to Houston Methodist's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

“This tremendous gift will accelerate translational research that broadens our understanding of neurological and other diseases,” Dr. Jenny Chang, president and CEO of the Houston Methodist Academic Institute, added in the release. “It will allow us to leverage state-of-the-art platforms to detect, diagnose and deliver therapeutics, keeping patient care at the center of our mission.”

The Brockman Centennial Tower is expected to open next year in the Texas Medical Center. Spanning more than 1 million square feet, it will house 400 patient beds, an expanded emergency department, new operating rooms and a rooftop garden. It will be connected to Houston Methodist's flagship Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III Tower, which opened in 2018. The Centennial Tower was estimated to cost $1.4 billion when announced in 2022.

In addition to the news of the Brockman gift, Houston Methodist also announced this month that it has launched the Houston Methodist Center for Cell and Gene Therapy and tapped an internationally recognized scientist as its leader.

The new center is focused on discovering and developing innovative and cost-effective therapies for a variety of congenital and acquired diseases, including cancer, HIV and cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Malcolm Brenner has been named as the center's inaugural leader and will assume the role starting in October. He will work alongside scientists and support staff from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital.

Brenner is a professor of pediatrics, medicine, molecular and human genetics and translational biology at Baylor College of Medicine. He is known for making early advances in using bone marrow transplantation as a form of cell therapy and in engineered immune-cell treatments for cancer and infections, according to a release from Houston Methodist.

“Malcolm Brenner is a pioneer in the field of cell and gene therapy and is uniquely qualified to lead Houston Methodist’s research efforts in this field,” Chang added. “His vision and leadership will play a pivotal role in advancing our work in this space.”

Report: Houston reclaims top 10 ranking among America's best cities

Houston has made a triumphant return to America's 10 best cities for 2026, certifying the city is a cornerstone of the country's growth and economic prosperity.

Houston ranks No. 9 nationwide in the annual "America's Best Cities" report from Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing firm Resonance Consultancy. Each year, the report ranks the relative qualities of livability, cultural "lovability," and economic prosperity in 393 American cities with metropolitan populations of 500,000 or more.

Dallas surpassed H-Town as the No. 8 best city in America, and the Lone Star State boasts a strong presence among the top 25. Austin and San Antonio, respectively, were named the 11th and 24th best American cities this year.

Previously, Houston was dubbed the 13th best American city in 2025, down from its No. 10 ranking in the 2024 report.

Rather than profiling each individual city like in past reports, the 2026 edition focuses on regional and state prosperity. Texas' economic dominance is second only to Florida's, and the state's growth is solidified by the Dallas-Houston-Austin "triangle," where each metro has its own distinct economic identity, but when combined "form one of the most formidable regional economies in the world."

"In our 2026 survey, Dallas ranks third nationally as the place Americans believe offers the best job opportunities, Austin fifth, and Houston seventh," the report's author wrote. "That concentration of perceived economic opportunity in a single state is unmatched, and the GDP data confirms it isn’t just perception."

After being named one of the best places to start a business or a career earlier in 2026, Houston has continued to punch above its weight with its success in tourism, education , and housing growth .

Overall, the report found a correlation between a city's population growth and its latest ranking, with bigger cities appearing higher up on the list. The top three best American cities — New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago — are coincidentally the three largest metros, while Dallas and Houston are the fourth and fifth largest but appear eighth and ninth on the list.

"Scale compounds at the large city level — more people generate more economic activity, more cultural infrastructure, more employer presence, which attracts more people," the report said.

The top 10 best cities in America for 2026 are:

No. 1 – New York
No. 2 – Los Angeles
No. 3 – Chicago
No. 4 – Miami
No. 5 – San Francisco
No. 6 – Seattle
No. 7 – Las Vegas
No. 8 – Dallas
No. 9 – Houston
No. 10 – Boston

New probe into Tesla after vehicle slams into Houston-area home at high speed

Tesla Talk

The top U.S. auto regulator opened an investigation Monday, June 22, after a Tesla using an automated driving feature slammed into a Texas home at high speed and killed a 76-year-old woman standing inside.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it's opening a special investigation into the Tesla Model 3 crash on Friday near Houston, a significant probe because the car was using technology that Elon Musk considers key to the company's future.

The Tesla CEO is rolling out robotaxis using automated software in several U.S. cities this year and plans to invite Tesla owners to put their cars into the fleet using the same system across the country.

The driver told the Harris County Sheriff's Office that he was using the technology, according to a police report on the crash, but it's not clear what role, if any, it played in the incident.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment but the head of the company's artificial intelligence efforts suggested on social media later Monday that the self-driving feature was not to blame.

“In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area,” wrote Ashok Elluswamy on X, the platform that is now part of Musk's rocket company, SpaceX. “They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.”

The police report noted that the driver was not drunk and is cooperating. It identified the woman killed as Martha Avila.

Video obtained by KHOU-TV shows the car traveling at top speed over the front lawn of a brick home in Katy, then ramming into a front room. The next shot shows the car encased in the home amid piles of crumbling plaster, split beams and bits of furniture.

The auto safety regulator, known as NHTSA, has launched several investigations into Tesla, including one late last year into 58 incidents in which Teslas reportedly violated traffic safety laws while using self-driving technology, leading to more than a dozen crashes and fires and nearly two dozen injuries.

A few months earlier, the NHTSA opened an investigation into why Tesla apparently had not been reporting crashes promptly as required.

As for special crash investigations, the NHTSA has opened 46 involving Teslas using self-driving or driver-assistance technology over the past decade, according to the agency's records. In more than a dozen of those crashes, at least one person — a driver, passenger or pedestrian — was killed.

Tesla stock fell sharply early last year as car sales plunged amid a boycott of Musk after he waded into politics, leading President Donald Trump's budget-cutting Department of Government Efficiency initiative and embracing European extremist candidates.

Musk has since shifted the Tesla story to one less about car sales and more about AI and robotaxis, and done so successfully. The stock is up 16% in the past year.

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