Houston maintains a leader in annual life science report

lucky number 13

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 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.”

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Houston — home to the largest medical center — ranks No. 13 on a list of top life science labor markets. Photo via TMC

Here's how Houston ranks as a life science market, according to a new report

by the numbers

For Houston’s life sciences sector, 13 is a very lucky number.

The Houston metro area ranks 13th in CBRE’s first-ever analysis of the country’s top 25 U.S. labor markets for life sciences. Houston’s collective brain power helped cement its place on the list.

The Boston-Cambridge area tops the ranking. Houston is the highest-ranked Texas market, ahead of No. 16 Dallas-Fort Worth and No. 18 Austin.

Dallas-based CBRE, a provider of commercial real estate services, lauds Houston for its “attractive combination” of affordability and a deep pool of Ph.D.-level talent, as well as the presence of major research universities and medical institutions.

Scott Carter, senior vice president of life sciences and healthcare in CBRE’s Houston office, says those factors make Houston “an attractive market for life sciences industry expansion.”

“Houston is projected to lead the nation in population growth over the next five years, which will only strengthen the appeal of its labor market,” Carter says.

Houston boasts the nation’s highest wages in the life sciences sector compared with the cost of living, the analysis shows. Meanwhile, Ph.D. recipients account for 18.5 percent of the 1,300 biological and biomedical sciences degrees granted each year in the Houston area — the highest concentration nationwide. And Houston produces 4.2 percent of such Ph.D. recipients in the U.S. — more than all but a few major life sciences markets do.

“Millions of square feet and billions of dollars of life sciences development is underway or planned in Houston to break down longtime silos between commercial, academic, and medical sectors,” Carter says. “Leveraging the unmatched scale of the Texas Medical Center, these new moon-shot investments are building a launchpad to rocket Space City into a new era as a global hub for scientific and human progress.”

Underscoring the rapid rise of the city’s innovation ecosystem, Houston enjoys one of the country’s fastest-growing pipelines for VC funding in life sciences. Here, VC funding in the sector rose 937 percent in the past five years, compared with the nationwide increase of 345 percent, according to CBRE.

For its analysis, CBRE assessed each market based on several criteria, including its number of life sciences jobs and graduates, its share of the overall job and graduate pool in life sciences, its number of Ph.D. recipients in life sciences, and its concentration of jobs in the broader professional, scientific, and technical services professions.

In 2020, CBRE ranked Houston as the No. 2 emerging hub for life sciences in a report, which factored in size and growth of life-sciences employment, the venture capital and National Institutes of Health funding, and more.

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UTHealth Houston team joins NASA initiative to protect border drinking water

water watch

Climate change means far more to public health than living with hotter days. Transformations in our weather are contributing to challenges in accessing safe drinking water in some communities.

One of the most dire situations is along the US–Mexico border. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking to address that issue with its Water Quality Applications program. An 11-researcher project led by a UTHealth Houston School of Public Health faculty member has been selected to participate.

“Drinking water is one of the most fundamental public health protections, but producing safe drinking water involves a delicate balance,” Yun Hang, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, said in a news release. Her team’s proposal was one of 93 that were submitted for funding through NASA’s Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES)-2025 program.

This is the first time that NASA has worked with a team devoted to water quality applications. The group, which includes researchers from across the nation, will use satellite observations of Earth, as well as hydrologic modeling, to potentially anticipate and act on water quality conditions as they change. Challenges addressed over the course of the three-year program, which kicked off in June, might include problems with water quality due to climate variability and increased pressure on water resources.

Hang’s team will focus on a pair of borderlands: Paso del Norte and the Rio Grande Valley.

“Working closely with El Paso Water ensures that our research addresses real operational needs while helping utilities better prepare for climate-related water quality changes and continue providing safe drinking water to communities across the Texas border region,” Hang added in the release.

She and the team will use data gathered by NASA on both past and future Earth-observing missions, which will allow them to track environmental changes that may affect source water quality. Combined with past water treatment records and hydrologic models, the team will also utilize artificial intelligence to develop predictive tools that aim to stop issues before they become larger hurdles to water safety.

Another one of the project’s goals is to create visualization tools and source water summaries that can be utilized by those without scientific expertise. The tools will be produced in English and Spanish to further broaden their accessibility.

The hope is that the materials made by the team will also go far beyond the border, with protocols that can be adapted or adopted by other areas dealing with water quality issues.

U.S. News declares Houston hospital No. 1 in Texas for the 15th year

Top of the Chart

Houston Methodist Hospital and over a dozen more Houston-area hospitals have earned bragging rights in U.S. News & World Report's newly released rankings of the Best Hospitals for 2026-2027.

Every year, U.S. News annually evaluates nearly 4,500 U.S. hospitals to determine which meet the publication's rigorous standards and offer the best care for patients across 14 adult specialties and 23 procedures and conditions. New to this year's batch of rankings, U.S. News introduced regional rankings in cancer; cardiology; heart and vascular surgery; orthopedics; and rehabilitation.

Houston Methodist Hospital was the only Texas institution named on U.S. News' Best Hospitals Honor Roll, a prestigious list of the 20 best medical centers in the country. Houston Methodist also reigns as Texas' best hospital for the 15th consecutive year.

The hospital also shines among the nation’s best in 10 specialties:

  • No. 5 – Gastroenterology and GI Surgery
  • No. 7 – Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • No. 10 – Cardiology, Heart, and Vascular Surgery
  • No. 11 – Pulmonology and Lung Surgery
  • No. 13 – Neurology and Neurosurgery
  • No. 19 – Cancer
  • No. 21 – Orthopedics
  • No. 23 – Diabetes and Endocrinology
  • No. 24 – Geriatrics
  • No. 43 – Urology
Houston Methodist also earned high performing distinctions across one regional specialty (Rehabilitation) and 21 procedures and conditions.

"This recognition reflects the remarkable dedication of our physicians and employees and their tireless focus on delivering unparalleled care to our patients," said Houston Methodist president and CEO Marc L. Boom, M.D. in a press release. "While we are honored by this recognition, its true significance lies in what it represents — an unwavering commitment to putting patients first."

Elsewhere in Houston, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ranked as the No. 1 best cancer hospital in the nation for the 12th year in a row.

"This ranking is a tremendous honor, and it reflects our unwavering commitment to continue making progress in our mission to end cancer," said UT MD Anderson president Peter WT Pisters, M.D. "We are deeply grateful to everyone who made this recognition possible: our faculty and staff, volunteers, donors, and the patients and families we are honored to serve."

MD Anderson also earned national rankings in two specialties — Urology (No. 6) and Gastroenterology and GI Surgery (No. 16) — and it received high performing distinctions in six procedures and conditions: Colon Cancer Surgery; Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgery; Gynecological Cancer Surgery; Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma Treatment; Lung Cancer Surgery; and Prostate Cancer Surgery.

The additional Houston hospitals that ranked among the best in Texas for 2026-2027 are:

  • No. 3 – Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital (tied with Baylor University Medical Center Dallas)
  • No. 5 – Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, Houston
  • No. 6 – Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston
  • No. 7 – Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital
  • No. 10 – Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital (tied with St. David's Medical Center, Austin)
  • No. 14 – Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital
  • No. 15 – Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, Houston
  • No. 21 – Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital, Nassau Bay; St. Luke's Health-The Woodlands Hospital; University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston (also tied with six more Texas hospitals)
  • No. 30 – Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital (tied with five other Texas hospitals)
  • No. 36 – HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood (tied with Parkland Health-Dallas)
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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston helps power Texas’ rise as AI infrastructure hub, new report finds

eyes on ai

Houston plays a major role in Texas’ rapidly evolving AI economy, a new report indicates.

The report from Build American AI, a pro-AI advocacy group, notes Houston’s growing AI presence includes:

  • A factory being built by AI chipmaker NVIDIA and electronics manufacturer Foxconn that will produce AI supercomputers and infrastructure systems
  • Houston Methodist’s use of ambient AI to listen to health care providers’ conversations with patients, eliminating the need for manual notetaking
  • An abundance of AI products and services for the energy sector

Across the state, billions of dollars in new AI investments are fueling advancements in construction, manufacturing, energy production, logistics, and health care, according to the report.

“Texas is not merely a place where AI products will be used. Texas is becoming one of the places where the AI economy is being assembled,” the report says.

Particularly noteworthy are four major AI-related projects around the state representing an investment of more than $140 billion, including Google’s $40 billion buildout of AI data centers.

“While California had a headstart in building the software era, Texas will build the infrastructure era,” says the report. “That is not a slogan. Economic research has revealed for decades that innovation happens where the local conditions make building and collaboration possible, and Texas is positioned to be a central hub.”

According to the report, components of Texas’ infrastructure era include:

  • Energy leadership
  • Top-tier hospitals
  • Semiconductor investments
  • Construction capabilities
  • Data center growth
  • Major companies and universities

On the workforce front, Stanford University’s 2026 AI Index found Texas had 80,547 AI job postings in 2025, accounting for 8 percent of the national total.

“Texas no longer needs to ask whether AI will reshape the economy. It already has,” the report concludes. “The question is whether Texas will merely host part of that future or lead it.”

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