University of Houston-founded company secures $2.5M in NIH grant funding

all in the timing

CellChorus announced that the company, along with The University of Houston, has been awarded up to $2.5 million in funding. Photo via Getty Images

You could say that the booming success of Houston biotech company CellChorus owes very much to auspicious TIMING. Those six letters stand for Time-lapse Imaging Microscopy In Nanowell Grids, a platform for dynamic single-cell analysis.

This week, CellChorus announced that the company, along with The University of Houston, has been awarded up to $2.5 million in funding from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institute of Health. A $350,000 Phase I grant is already underway. Once predetermined milestones are achieved, this will lead to a two-year $2.1 million Phase II grant.

The TIMING platform was created by UH Single Cell Lab researchers Navin Varadarajan and Badri Roysam. TIMING generates high-throughput in-vitro assays that quantitatively profile interactions between cells on a large scale, particularly what happens when immune cells confront target cells. This has been especially useful in the realm of immuno-oncology, where it has demonstrated its power in designing novel therapies, selecting lead candidates for clinical trials and evaluating the potency of manufactured cells.

“By combining AI, microscale manufacturing and advanced microscopy, the TIMING platform yields deep insight into cellular behaviors that directly impact human disease and new classes of therapeutics,” says Rebecca Berdeaux, chief scientific officer at CellChorus. “The generous support of NCATS enables our development of computational tools that will ultimately integrate single-cell dynamic functional analysis of cell behavior with intracellular signaling events.”

Houston’s CellChorus Innovation Lab supports both the further development of TIMING and projects for early-access customers. Those customers include top-25 biopharmaceutical companies, venture-backed biotechnology companies, a leading comprehensive cancer center and a top pediatric hospital, says CEO Daniel Meyer.

CellChorus’s publications include papers written in collaboration with researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist, MD Anderson, Texas Children’s Hospital, the University of Texas and UTHealth in journals including Nature Cancer, Journal of Clinical Investigation and The Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

The new Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award will specifically support the development of a scalable integrated software system conceived with the goal of analyzing cells that are not fluorescently labeled. This label-free analysis will be based on new AI and machine learning (ML) models trained on tens of millions of images of cells.

“This is an opportunity to leverage artificial intelligence methods for advancing the life sciences,” says Roysam. “We are especially excited about its applications to advancing cell-based immunotherapy to treat cancer and other diseases.”

The Houston-born-and-bred company couldn’t have a more appropriate home, says Meyer.

“Houston is a premier location for clinical care and the development of biotechnology and life sciences technologies. In particular, Houston has established itself as a leader in the development and delivery of immune cell-based therapies,” the CEO explains. “As a spin-out from the Single Cell Lab at the University of Houston, we benefit from working with world-class experts at local institutions.”

In May, the company received a similar $2.5 million SBIR grant from NCATS at the NIH. Also this summer, CellChorus's technology was featured in Nature Cancer.

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This uniquely Houston technology is an AI program that allows scientists to understand the functions of cells by evaluating cell activation, killing, and movement. Photo via Getty Images

University of Houston lab reports breakthrough in cancer-detecting technology

making moves

T-cell immunotherapy is all the rage in the world of fighting cancer. A Houston company’s researchers have discovered a new subset of T cells that could be a game changer for patients.

CellChorus is a spinoff of Navin Varadarajan’s Single Cell Lab, part of the University of Houston’s Technology Bridge. The lab is the creator of TIMING, or Time-lapse Imaging Microscopy In Nanowell Grids. It’s a visual AI program that allows scientists to understand the functions of cells by evaluating cell activation, killing, and movement.

Last month, Nature Cancer published a paper co-authored by Varadarajan entitled, “Identification of a clinically efficacious CAR T cell subset in diffuse large B cell lymphoma by dynamic multidimensional single-cell profiling.”

“Our results showed that a subset of T cells, labeled as CD8-fit T cells, are capable of high motility and serial killing, found uniquely in patients with clinical response,” says first author and recent UH graduate Ali Rezvan in Nature Cancer.

Besides him and Varadarajan, contributors hail from Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Kite Pharma, and CellChorus itself.

The team identified the CD80-fit T cells using TIMING to examine interactions between T cells and tumor cells across thousands of individual cells. They were able to integrate the results using single-cell RNA sequencing data.

T-cell therapy activates a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer cells, but not every patient responds favorably to it. Identifying CD8-fit cells could be the key to manufacturing clinical response even in those for whom immunotherapy hasn’t been effective.

“This work illustrates the excellence of graduate students Ali Rezvan and Melisa Montalvo; and post-doctoral researchers Melisa Martinez-Paniagua and Irfan Bandey among others,” says Varadarajan in a statement.

Earlier last month, CellChorus recently received a $2.5 million SBIR grant. The money allows the company to share TIMING more widely, facilitating even more landmark discoveries like CD8-fit cells.

CellChorus created a visualization AI program that helps scientists to better understand the functioning of cells, including their activation, killing and movement. Photo via Getty Images

Houston health tech startup scores $2.5M SBIR grant to advance unique cell therapy AI technology

fresh funding

A Houston biotech company just announced a new award of $2.5 million.

CellChorus, a spinoff of the Single Cell Lab at the University of Houston, announced the fresh funding, which comes from an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) through its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).

CellChorus is the business behind a technology called TIMING, which stands for Time-lapse Imaging Microscopy In Nanowell Grids. It’s a visualization AI program that helps scientists to better understand the functioning of cells, including their activation, killing and movement. This more in-depth knowledge of immune cells could be instrumental in developing novel therapies in countless disorders, including cancers and infectious diseases.

“While many cell therapies have been approved and are in development, the industry needs an integrated analytical platform that provides a matrix of functional readouts, including cell phenotype and metabolism on the same cells over time,” Rebecca Berdeaux, vice president of science at CellChorus, says in a press release. “We are grateful to NCATS for its support of the development of application-specific kits that apply dynamic, functional single-cell analysis of immune cell phenotype and function. The product we will develop will increase the impact of these therapies to improve the lives of patients.”

A two-year, $2.1 million Phase II grant will begin after the company achieves predetermined milestones under a $350,000 Phase I grant that is currently taking place. As Berdeaux explained, the funds will be used to develop TIMING kits which will manufacture analytics that provide end-users with rapid, specific and predictive results to accelerate translational research and the development and manufacture of more effective cell therapies.

TIMING is more than a great idea whose time has yet to come. It has already been proven in great depth. In fact, last June, CellChorus CEO Daniel Meyer told InnovationMap that he was initially attracted to the technology because it was “very well validated.” At the time, CellChorus had just announced a $2.3 million SBIR Fast-Track grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The company also went on to win an award in the Life Science category of the 2023 Houston Innovation Awards.

That confirmation of success comes from more than 200 peer-reviewed papers that describe myriad cell types and types of therapy, all of which used data from TIMING assays. TIMING data has benefited industry leaders in everything from research and clinical development to manufacturing. With the new grant, TIMING will become more widely available to scientists making important discoveries relating to the inner workings of the cells that drive our immunity.

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Rice biotech studio secures investment from Modi Ventures, adds founder to board

fresh funding

RBL LLC, which supports commercialization for ventures formed at the Rice University Biotech Launch Pad, has secured an investment from Houston-based Modi Ventures.

Additionally, RBL announced that it has named Sahir Ali, founder and general partner of Modi Ventures, to its board of directors.

Modi Ventures invests in biotech companies that are working to advance diagnostics, engineered therapeutics and AI-driven drug discovery. The firm has $134 million under management after closing an oversubscribed round this summer.

RBL launched in 2024 and is based out of Houston’s Texas Medical Center Helix Park. William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, previously called the launch of RBL a “critical step forward” for Houston’s life sciences ecosystem.

“RBL is dedicated to building companies focused on pioneering and intelligent bioelectronic therapeutics,” Ali said in a LinkedIn post. “This partnership strengthens the Houston biotech ecosystem and accelerates the transition of groundbreaking lab discoveries into impactful therapies.”

Ali will join board members like managing partner Paul Wotton, Rice bioengineering professor Omid Veiseh, scientist and partner at KdT Ventures Rima Chakrabarti, Rice alum John Jaggers, CEO of Arbor Biotechnologies Devyn Smith, and veteran executive in the life sciences sector James Watson.

Ali has led transformative work and built companies across AI, cloud computing and precision medicine. Ali also serves on the board of directors of the Drug Information Association, which helps to collaborate in drug, device and diagnostics developments.

“This investment by Modi Ventures will be instrumental to RBL’s growth as it reinforces confidence in our venture creation model and accelerates our ability to develop successful biotech startups,” Wotton said in the announcement. "Sahir’s addition to the board will also amplify this collaboration with Modi. His strategic counsel and deep understanding of field-defining technologies will be invaluable as we continue to grow and deliver on our mission.”

New peer-to-peer grocery app launches in Katy with plans to expand

local goods

If computer scientist and mobile applications developer Arfhan Ahmad has his way, his burgeoning Houston-based startup, QuickPantri, will be directly responsible for adding to the definition of what it truly means to be neighborly.

“Fast delivery from next door” — that’s the tagline for Ahmad’s hyperlocal grocery platform, which focuses on solving last-mile access, neighborhood commerce and food affordability.

“I’m passionate about combining technology with real-world problems, especially those that impact working families and underserved communities,” Ahmad says. “I moved to Houston two years ago, and here I realized that grocery stores are far from the neighborhoods.”

Ahmad envisions QuickPantri will help people who need grocery items urgently, sparing them a trip to the store or costly delivery fees by letting them source items directly from their neighbors’ cupboards.

With his new peer-to-peer app, members — especially those tethered to their residence due to disability or immobility or those unable to make grocery runs with children in tow — can simply log on to QuickPantri and purchase grocery items from their own neighbors.

“My initial thought was, 'What if we have an app that allows people to open a grocery store at their own home and sell any essential items to other neighbors?'” Ahmad says. “So, after having this idea in my mind, I asked my neighbors, 'If I sell groceries from my home, would you buy them from me?' And most of them gave me positive responses. After doing some surveys online on the Nextdoor app and Facebook, I started building this app.”

And like a good neighbor, Ahmad launched QuickPantri in his own neighborhood in Katy.

He then looked at scaling, first by securing approvals from Harris County to sell pre-packaged grocery items from his home. The response exceeded his own expectations. In the last two months, Ahmad estimates that he has delivered to 250 homes in the Katy area. Ahmad has seen that most customers use the app in search of late-night snacks and drinks.

“Ninety-five percent of those orders were delivered in 15 to 30 minutes … Our plan is to expand in other high-risk communities and other cities,” Ahmad says.

To date, Ahmad has obtained approvals from Arizona, Utah and Nevada.

He’s in the process of launching version two. Starting September 1, other sellers will be able to join the app and apply to sell goods to their neighbors. Ahmad says he currently has 50 sellers on the waitlist.

Each seller is allotted a potential selling radius of 10 minutes to ensure swift delivery. Also, sellers are required to deliver the goods via bicycle or on foot, making QuickPantri a pollution-free delivery option.

Currently, the app only sells pre-packaged items and sellers are required to show the expiration date in photos. The app utilizes AI to check pricing for goods in the area, and Ahmad says the app typically lists prices lower than what AI predicts.

Outside of geographic reach and number of buyers and sellers, Ahmad also hopes to expand the list of items that can be sold on the app to include clothes, electronics and cleaning supplies.

“We want our seller to be the ultimate source,” Ahmad says.

2 Houston universities excel on 2026 list of best U.S. colleges

Best in Class

Two top-tier Houston universities have been inducted into a new "hall of fame" list of the best colleges in the U.S. for 2026.

Rice University and the University of Houston were both praised in The Princeton Review's "The Best 391 Colleges: 2026 Edition."

Released August 12, the comprehensive guide annually ranks the best universities across 50 categories based on a survey of 170,000 current college students. Survey questions cover topics such as a school's academics and administration, student quality of life, politics, campus life, city life, extracurricular opportunities, and social environment.

The Princeton Review did not numerically rank the schools overall, but it does report the top 25 schools (out of the total 391) for each of the 50 different categories. The report also clarifies that while schools did not pay to be included in the guide, they could pay for a "featured" designation. Neither Houston university paid to be featured on the list.

Rice University, Houston's most prestigious private institution, appeared in the overall 391 best colleges list, and it also appeared in the regional "Best Southwest" list, the "Best Value Colleges" list, and the "Colleges That Create Futures" list. Rice's overall quality and its academic integrity are what students say are its greatest strengths. Students are additionally encouraged to think creatively — and even unconventionally — about how to approach course assignments.

"There's also an outside-the-box thinking when it comes to assessments, like 'the option to make a 30 minute scientific podcast instead of taking the final,' explains one sophomore," the school's profile says. "This isn't unusual for first-years either; one notes that 'instead of doing a bunch of writing and essays, I was tasked with creating...a TED Talk, which really lit a creative flame in me.'"

Rice students can brag about attending a school with the seventh best college newspaper and the 10th best college dorms and quality of life out of all colleges nationwide. The university's financial aid is also the ninth best in the country.

Here's how Rice fared in other Princeton Review rankings:

  • No. 14 – Top 50 Best Value Private Colleges
  • No. 14 – Lots of Race/Class Interaction
  • No. 17 – Best College Radio Station
  • No. 18 – Top 20 Best Value Private Colleges without Financial Aid
  • No. 19 – Best Science Lab Facilities
  • No. 23 – Best-Run Colleges
  • No. 25 – Students Study the Most

Rice has recently earned praise in a separate 2026 ranking of the best universities in the world, and its MBA program scored highly in The Princeton Review's 2025 best business schools list.

University of Houston also appeared in The Princeton Review's "Best Value Colleges," "Best Southwest," "Green Colleges," and "Colleges That Create Futures" lists. Students at this university also benefit from having the No. 1 undergraduate entrepreneurship program in the nation.

"Whether you're in or out-of-state, students consider their school to be 'not very expensive for the quality of education you're getting,' and the constant improvements help 'you feel like your degree is appreciating in value over time along with the school itself," the university's profile says.

Here's how University of Houston performed in other rankings:

  • No. 20 – Students Love Their School Teams
  • No. 21 – Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch (this list measured schools based on "the use of hard liquor" as reported by student surveys)
  • No. 22 – Cancel the Keg (this list measured "how widely beer is used" at schools based on student survey results)
  • No. 22 – Pot's Not Hot (this list ranked colleges with the "least marijuana usage based on ratings from real students about the popularity of marijuana on campus")
  • No. 25 – Most Politically Moderate Students
  • No. 42 – Top 50 Best Value Public Colleges
Unfortunately, UH ranked No. 11 in The Princeton Review's ranking of schools where financial aid is "not so great." However, there is plenty else to appreciate about this high performing university.

Other Texas universities included in The Princeton Review are:

  • University of Texas at Austin
  • Southwestern University in Georgetown
  • Texas State University in San Marcos
  • Trinity University in San Antonio
  • Texas A&M University in College Station
  • Angelo State University in San Angelo
  • Baylor University in Waco
  • Texas Christian University in Fort Worth
  • Southern Methodist University in Dallas
  • The University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson
  • University of Dallas in Irving
  • Austin College in Sherman
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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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