Houston startup, researchers awarded millions to develop Brain Mesh implant

brain health

Rice researchers will collaborate with Houston health tech startup Motif Neurotech to develop Brain Mesh, a distributed network of minimally invasive implants in the skull. Photo via Motif Neurotech

Houston startup Motif Neurotech and several Rice research groups have been selected by the United Kingdom's Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to participate in its inaugural Precision Neurotechnologies program. The program aims to develop advanced brain-interfacing technologies for cognitive and psychiatric conditions.

ARIA will invest $84.2 million over four years in projects that “explore and unlock new methods to interface with the human brain at the circuit level,” according to a news release.

Three of the four Rice labs will collaborate with Houston health tech startup Motif Neurotech to develop Brain Mesh, which is a distributed network of minimally invasive implants that can stimulate neural circuits and stream neural data in real time. The project has been awarded approximately $5.9 million.

Motif Neurotech was spun out of the Rice lab of Jacob Robinson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering and CEO of Motif Neurotech. It will be developed in collaboration with U.K.-based startup MintNeuro, which will help develop custom integrated circuits that will help to miniaturize the implants, according to a separate release.

Robinson will lead the system and network integration and encapsulation efforts for Mesh Points implants. According to Rice, these implants, about the size of a grain of rice, will track and modulate brain states and be embedded in the skull through relatively low-risk surgery.

The Rice lab of Valentin Dragoi, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice and the Rosemary and Daniel J. Harrison III Presidential Distinguished Chair in Neuroprosthetics at Houston Methodist, will conduct non-human primate experimental models for Brain Mesh. Kaiyuan Yang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who leads the Secure and Intelligent Micro-Systems Lab at Rice, will work on power and data pipeline development to enable the functional miniaturization of the Mesh Points.

“Current neurotechnologies are limited in scale, specificity and compatibility with human use,” Robinson said in a news release. “The Brain Mesh will be a precise, scalable system for brain-state monitoring and modulation across entire neural circuits designed explicitly for human translation. Our team brings together a key set of capabilities and the expertise to not only work through the technical and scientific challenges but also to steward this technology into clinical trials and beyond.”

The fourth Rice lab, led by assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering Jerzy Szablowski, will collaborate with researchers from three universities and two industry partners to develop closed-loop, self-regulating gene therapy for dysfunctional brain circuits. The team is backed by an award of approximately $2.3 million.

“Our goal is to develop a method for returning neural circuits involved in neuropsychiatric illnesses such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, dementia, etc. to normal function and maybe even make them more resilient,” Szablowski said in a news release.

Neurological disorders in the U.K. have a roughly $5.4 billion economic burden, and some estimates run as high as $800 billion annually in terms of economic disruptions in the U.S. These conditions are the leading cause of illness and disability with over one in three people impacted according to the World Health Organization.

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The partnership between Japan-based Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. and the National Cancer Center will focus on advancing cancer treatments, providing a pathway for Japanese innovators to expand in the U.S. market. Photo courtesy of TMC

TMC launches cancer-focused partnership with Japan

global collaboration

Houston's Texas Medical Center announced the launch of its new TMC Japan BioBridge and Japan-Accelerator Cancer Therapeutics and Medical Devices, or JACT, this month.

The strategic partnership between Japan-based Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. and the National Cancer Center will focus on advancing cancer treatments and providing a pathway for Japanese innovators to expand in the U.S. market. A delegation from TMC recently visited Tokyo, and William F. McKeon, president and CEO of TMC, signed the TMC Japan BioBridge Memorandum of Understanding with Takeshi Ozane, general manager of Mitsui Fudosan, and Hitoshi Nakagama, president of the National Cancer Center of Japan.

“The launch of TMC Japan BioBridge is a vital step forward in connecting two global leaders in healthcare innovation,” McKeon says in a statement. “Japan’s leadership has demonstrated an impressive commitment to advance medical cures and life sciences technologies and through this partnership, we are opening necessary doors for Japanese researchers and innovators to access the US market and collaborate with our TMC ecosystem. Together, we aim to accelerate critical breakthroughs to make a difference for patients all around the world.”

The new JACT will offer cancer-treatment companies a structured process to prepare for a U.S. expansion and will allow for meetings with pharmaceutical companies, hospital systems and investors and provide insights on U.S. regulatory approvals. It'll focus on three key areas, according to the statement:

  1. Milestone development and financial planning
  2. Clinical and regulatory expertise
  3. Strategic partnerships and market insights

“This TMC Japan BioBridge and JACT Program will enable us to promote the advancement of start-up companies aiming to commercialize innovative medical technologies originating in Japan into the U.S." Nakagama says in a statement. "We also hope this collaboration will not be limited to our (Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development)-supported project, but will lead to further cooperation between TMC, NCC, and other Japanese institutions in various fields.”

This is the sixth international strategic partnership for the TMC. It launched its first BioBridge, which focus on partnerships to support international healthcare companies preparing for U.S. expansion, with the Health Informatics Society of Australia in 2016. It also has BioBridge partnerships with the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

The Bayou City ranks highly thanks to a high quality-of-living score, lack of a state income tax and state capital gains tax, and a state sales tax rate of 6.25 percent. Photo by Natalie Harms/InnovationMap

Houston scores top ranking of best cities for entrepreneurs

easy living

Houston joins Dallas and Austin in a new ranking of the 10 best U.S. cities for entrepreneurs to live.

Houston appears at No. 7 on the list, compiled by SumUp, which provides payment and banking services for businesses. In part, Bayou City ranks highly thanks to a high quality-of-living score. Houston also fares well due to the lack of a state income tax and state capital gains tax, and a state sales tax rate of 6.25 percent.

Here are the top 10 places in the U.S. for entrepreneurs to live, according to SumUp:

  1. New York City
  2. Chicago
  3. Miami
  4. Los Angeles
  5. Dallas
  6. Austin
  7. Houston
  8. Seattle
  9. Washington, D.C.
  10. Boston

SumUp, based in the United Kingdom, weighed 16 factors to come up with the ranking. These factors included tax rates, number of millionaires, internet speeds, and number of international airports.

Not surprisingly, the ranking factors featured a decidedly British slant. For instance, the ranking took into account Google and TikTok search volumes in the United Kingdom for “Moving to [city name].”

Of course, Houston offers more entrepreneurial advantages than the ones cited by SumUp. For example:

  • Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business ranks as the country’s No. 1 graduate entrepreneurship program, according to The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.
  • The University of Houston’s Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the C.T. Bauer College of Business ranks as the No. 1 undergraduate entrepreneurship program, according to The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.
  • The George W. Bush Presidential Center awarded Houston the No. 6 spot on its 2024 ranking of the top U.S. metro areas for university innovation.
  • A 2023 ranking from the LendingTree personal finance website put Houston in 13th place among the U.S. metro areas where minority entrepreneurs are enjoying the most success.
    “Houston’s reputation for entrepreneurship is inextricably linked to the city’s diversity,” the Understanding Houston website notes.

“The growing populations in Houston from diverse backgrounds, namely immigrants and people of color, are not only the economic and cultural driving force for the evolution of our city, but also the future of our country.”

The Texas Medical Center has named its second cohort for its United Kingdom-focused health tech accelerator. Photo via TMC

16 digital health, medical device companies selected for UK, TMC accelerator

coming to Hou

For the second time, an accelerator backed by the United Kingdom and hosted by Texas Medical Center Innovation has named 16 companies to its new cohort.

In partnership with Innovate UK, TMC named the new cohort companies in an announcement this week. The companies are divided into two categories — digital health and medical device — and cover a wide range of specialties, from diagnostics and AI monitoring to non-surgical management and more.

The accelerator launched last year with its inaugural cohort with the mission of helping companies make their United States expansion by way of the TMC.

"The first cohort of startups in our accelerator program experienced TMC's capabilities in developing and advancing solutions through cross-collaboration with top minds in clinical care, commercialization and innovation," Devin Dunn, head of the Accelerator for Health Tech at TMC, says in a news release. "We are excited to continue our partnership with Innovate UK and welcome this second cohort to continue our efforts advancing life sciences technologies across the globe."

This year's program begins June 4 and will run through November. According to the TMC, last year's cohort had significant success tapping into the health tech ecosystem in Houston, including engaging with investors, setting up a go-to-market strategy, and making inaugural U.S.-based hires.

“Our Global Incubator Programme selects driven and ambitious innovators looking to scale their technologies globally," adds Jon Hazell, partnership manager for the North America and Global Incubator at Innovate UK. "We are excited for our second cohort of startups to join the programme, supported by the Texas Medical Center accelerator, where world-class mentors and programming will help our entrepreneurs understand and meet the requirements of different markets, and build the necessary partnerships, collaborations, and networks, facilitating their entry into global markets."

The selected medical device companies — and their technologies, as described by the TMC — include:

  • Cytecom – infectious diagnostic test, powered by cutting-edge optical electrophysiology, detects resistant bacteria in just 45 seconds, enabling doctors to prescribe targeted antibiotics in minutes instead of days
  • Heartfelt Technologies Ltd – the future of heart failure telemonitoring an automatic, AI supported, non-contact telemonitoring solution for heart failure patients
  • Neurovalens Ltd – creates wearable neurostimulaton devices that treat a range of conditions in an entirely non-invasive and drug-free way
  • Oxford Medical Products Limited – a proprietary hydrogel pill that acts as a non-surgical, non-pharmacological obesity treatment that will redefine the obesity treatment market
  • Phenutest – a rapid point-of-care diagnostic test for urinary tract infection, that confirms infection and appropriate antimicrobial to prescribe within 60 minutes
  • Plexaa – world's first fully wearable, sensor controlled, bra insert that can deliver safe supraphysiological preconditioning to the breast skin the night before surgery at home
  • SolasCure Limited – a wound Gel that acts as a single, effective and easy-to-use solution to overcome the challenges to transform chronic wound care
  • Trueinvivo Limited – a proprietary dosimetry (radiation measurement) system to ensure the precision and accuracy of cancer radiotherapy

The selected digital health companies — and their technologies, as described by the TMC — include:

  • Axon Diagnostics – offers a suite of solutions to support the needs of modern day diagnostic imaging services, supporting happier lives for clinicians and helping deliver better diagnostic care for all
  • Kheiron Medical Technologies – regarded as a world leader in the development of AI-enabled cancer diagnostics and monitoring
  • KiActiv – a technology-enabled digital health model for behaviour change and self-care that rethinks exercise and makes everyday movement an effective personalized medicine for better clinical outcomes
  • Memory Lane Games – turns memories into games, offering care providers a simple, fun dementia engagement app designed to trigger positive memories and improve socialisation with caregivers and people living with dementia
  • NeuroVirt Limited – combines immersive VR, AI and computer vision to gamify rehabilitation and quantify patient impairment and improvement
  • Newton’s Tree – enables healthcare providers to procure, integrate, and monitor third party AI products as part of routine care pathways through its enterprise AI platform
  • SERG Technologies – uses patented sensor technology and artificial intelligence to transform disease management into a continuous, data driven, and patient specific approach for people with Parkinson’s
  • Thymia – leverages speech, video, and behavioral analytics gathered via specially designed video games to diagnose conditions like depression, anxiety, and ADHD, alongside critical symptoms like fatigue, mood fluctuations, and memory issues, creating novel mental health biomarkers
The partnership between the U.K. and TMC began in 2018 as a biobridge between the two entities. TMC has expanded into new biobridges with other countries — most recently with The Netherlands — and also has a Danish accelerator that's also running its second cohort this summer.
The Texas Medical Center visited the Netherlands to secure a deal that creates a BioBridge to the country and Houston. Photo courtesy of TMC

TMC again expands global impact with new Netherlands partnership

breaking news

The Texas Medical Center may be based in Houston, but the organization has again grown its global impact.

Since 2016, TMC’s BioBridges have worked with 88 startup companies. Those include strategic alliances with four other countries. Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland are all among TMC’s BioBridges partners. As of today, add the Netherlands to that list.

On September 27, TMC president and CEO, William F. McKeon, and Carmen van Vilsteren, chair of Health~Holland, Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (LSH), signed an agreement in Rotterdam. The TMC Netherlands BioBridge Memorandum of Understanding codifies the innovative goals of the partnership. Essentially, the BioBridge program provides a means for entrepreneurs, researchers, clinicians and industry partners from other countries to access the US market, as well as TMC experts.

“The TMC Netherlands BioBridge represents an unparalleled opportunity for collaboration and growth,” Ashley McPhail, chief external affairs & administration officer at Texas Medical Center said in a press release. “The Netherlands has solidified its position as a global leader in the field of life sciences and health, with a thriving ecosystem of research institutions, innovative companies, and highly skilled professionals. This strategic partnership will bring positive benefits to patients, clinicians and industry partners on a global scale.”

This lifeline for international healthcare companies makes expansion into the United States far smoother. The Global Innovators Launch Pad allows for startup founders to take part in a 10-week residency at the TMC Innovation Factory that will teach them about foundational infrastructure, clinical evidence and funding in the US.

“Since Texas is an important hub for innovation in the MedTech and digital health sectors, the collaboration with Texas Medical Center creates opportunities for Dutch companies looking to expand their international reach. Vice versa, it gives companies in Texas access to the vibrant Dutch Life Sciences & Health sector,” said van Vilsteren.

That exchange includes members of the TMC gaining the opportunity to participate in the Health~Holland Visitors Programme (HVP), “Shaping the Healthcare of the Future.”

The annual event invites high-level representatives from the private sector, NGOs, knowledge institutions, healthcare providers and different tiers of government to share their expertise.

It's the fifth partnership of its kind for TMC, with the last one being with Ireland, announced last year. TMC's other global initiatives include accelerators with Denmark and the United Kingdom, both announced earlier this year.

Insight Surgery is opening its first international location, and the UK company chose Houston for it. Photo via 3dlifeprints.com

UK personalized surgery startup rebrands, expands to US by way of Houston

crossing the atlantic

An innovative health tech company headquartered in the United Kingdom has made its entrance into the United States — and Houston's Texas Medical Center is where it's setting up shop.

The company, newly renamed to Insight Surgery — neé 3D LifePrints — was originally established in 2011 by Paul Fotheringham as a social enterprise to create 3D printed prosthetics for amputees in Kenya. While the company still provides this care to developing countries, Fotheringham, who serves as CTO, evolved his mission into a business in 2015. The company is gearing up for its next evolution — starting with its first international expansion.

“We’re pivoting away from being a 3D printing company toward a company that personalizes surgery,” Fotheringham tells InnovationMap.

Insight Surgery's focus now is to provide digital planning for surgeons and create personalized medical devices. All the technology the company is working with is FDA approved, but will be customized for patients and surgeons. Previously, this type of customized care could take weeks or months, Fotheringham says, but with Insight Surgery's technology, they can accomplish this in a matter of days.

“We’ve coupled this all together at the point of care by putting people and technology in the hospitals,” Fotheringham explains. “We are changing the norm about (traditional surgery)."

Fotheringham and his team connected with Texas Medical Center Innovation Hub by way of a biobridge — an initiative by TMC to work with international entities to provide an exchange of tech and innovative care. TMC originally launched this UK partnership in 2018 and has expanded it to other countries, including Ireland, Australia, and Denmark.

Insight Surgery is currently building out its 5,000-square-foot space in TMCi that will have a print room for manufacturing. Local operations will be led by David Collins, US engineering lead, who will collaborate with Houston medical professionals at the point of care.

"The US is about 45 percent of the global market for personalized devices, so for us it's part of our expansion — both revenue and investment. We're moving into our fourth round of investment, and the funds will be used for geographic expansion," Fotheringham says. "It's the right time. There's not a lot of competitors."

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Houston researchers develop dissolvable implant for targeted cancer drug delivery

cancer research

Researchers at Houston Methodist have developed a biodegradable implant that can be used to safely and consistently deliver drug treatments to tumors and then dissolve without the need for further surgery.

The implant is only the size of a grain of rice, but its potential is staggering. The biodegradable nanofibrous drug-eluting seed (b-NDES) works as a reservoir parked inside a soft tumor, where it can slowly release immune-stimulating drugs over time. This overcomes a consistent problem with drugs such as immune checkpoint inhibitors. Normal systemic administration sees comparatively little of the drug making its way to the tumor, with most of it circulating throughout the body. The b-NDES is like deploying a small guerrilla fighting force embedded in enemy territory, doing maximum damage to the entrenched tumor.

"To improve cancer treatment, we're trying to start a fire inside the tumor itself," Corrine Chua, associate professor in the Center for BioNanoengineering at Houston Methodist Research Institute, said in a news release. "By activating immune cells directly within the tumor microenvironment, those cells can then travel throughout the body and seek out cancer wherever it exists. The b-NDES platform was developed to help keep therapeutic drugs concentrated inside tumors while minimizing exposure to healthy tissues.”

Chua co-led the study with Alessandro Grattoni, chair and director of the Center for BioNanoengineering at Houston Methodist Research Institute.

The study included support from the Nancy Owens Breast Cancer Foundation and the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute.

Chau and Grattoni used preclinical models of triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of cancer that is estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative and HER2-negative. Because of the receptor negativity, some popular treatments like tamoxifen and trastuzumab are ineffective. Chemotherapy has been shown to be the best course of action.

The b-NDES implant is deployed alongside radiation drugs. It keeps the drugs focused on the tumor, reducing the amount of harmful side effects typically seen when drugs are circulated more widely in the body. In 60 percent of the models, tumors were eliminated and did not cause side effects beyond the tumor site. Once the drugs have been deployed, the implant breaks down naturally.

While promising, more research will have to be done to expand use to other tumor types.

"Although the study focused on triple-negative breast cancer models, the approach could have broader applications for solid tumors," Grattoni added in the release. "It could potentially be used in cancers where there is a tumor lesion accessible for placement, including pancreatic or lung cancers."

New Houston platform Same Day Reels launches for on-demand content creation

In The Moment

If an event doesn't happen on Instagram, did it even really happen? In today's social media-driven age of branding and audience engagement, the answer increasingly is no.

Houston entrepreneur Karen De Amat is looking to fill the online content creation needs of companies with her new venture, Same Day Reels, which launched in early August. It will serve as a platform to connect companies and brands with talent that can help turn an event into a viral moment as it is happening.

"Events move quickly, and social media moves even faster,” said De Amat. “Same Day Reels was built to help brands capture the moment while it still matters. We are creating a more efficient way for businesses and creators to work together. Brands need content faster, and creators need more opportunities to turn their talent into real work. Same Day Reels brings those needs together.”

The company is focused on adding livestreams and concurrent short video content to "activations, launches, fundraisers, grand openings, conferences, hospitality experiences, and private celebrations." Such content can significantly increase the visibility of a product or brand according to digital marketing brands like Wyzowl, whose data found 63 percent of people in 2026 prefer to learn about new products via short video.

Packages offered by Same Day Reels will include filming, editing, and publishing content within hours of the targeted event.

De Amat says that her content creation platform will be a way to preserve the excitement of events and launches by enshrining them with immediate social media-driven memories.

“Event content is no longer just something you post after the fact,” De Amat said. “It is part of how people experience, remember and share the moment.”

Previously, De Amat is also the founder and CEO of Social Behavior, an influencer marketing company she launched from her home in 2014. It quickly garnered an array of clients and thrust De Amat into the spotlight, including numerous appearances on Fox 26's The Isiah Factor. Influencer Marketing Hub named her one of the top CEOs of influencer marketing companies in Houston in 2025.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Bristol Myers Squibb to build $2.3B Houston pharma manufacturing campus

coming soon

New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb Co. has officially named Houston as the home of its new state-of-the-art manufacturing site.

The 60,000-square-foot facility represents a $2.3 billion investment, according to a news release. It is expected to create 500 skilled jobs and will be located in Houston's Generation Park.

BMS first announced that it was considering Houston among 16 other cities for the facility in May. The new hub will manufacture small molecule, biologic and antibody-drug conjugates and is part of a $40 billion commitment to invest in the United States over five years. Construction is slated to begin next year, with the facility coming online in 2030.

"We're building the domestic manufacturing capabilities needed to deliver the next generation of medicines and support future scientific breakthroughs. Houston and the state of Texas offer the talent, infrastructure, and partnership needed to help bring that vision to life," Christopher Boerner, CEO and board chair of BMS, said in the release.

The new facility will feature a modular, multi-modal design, which will allow the company to reconfigure and add to its manufacturing capabilities over time. BMS says it expects the facility to "(grow) in scale and capability well beyond its opening configuration."

"Our decision to build this state-of-the-art manufacturing campus in Houston, Texas, reflects our confidence in the region’s ability to support a world-class, digitally advanced supply operation,” Karin Shanahan, EVP and chief supply chain and operations officer of BMS, added in the release. “This facility is designed to deliver the speed, quality, and reliability that patients depend on, combining flexible, modular manufacturing with advanced digital capabilities to ensure consistent supply across multiple modalities. It strengthens our ability to operate with resilience and positions us to reliably deliver medicines to patients today while adapting future demands.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott shared that the state has granted BMS a $4.89 million Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant for the project. TEF grants, administered by the Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office, support business relocation or expansion projects that create "new, good-paying jobs in the community and attract significant new capital investment to the state." The development is also a qualified project under the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation (JETI) program.

“Texas is a global hub for life sciences, where today’s innovations shape the future of healthcare,” Abbott said in a news release. “This $2.3 billion investment by Bristol Myers Squibb in the dynamic biotech ecosystem in Houston is a testament to the depth of our skilled workforce and the pipeline of talent coming through our nation-leading technical colleges and research universities. With lower operating costs and easy access to markets across the U.S. and the world, Texas drives affordability for consumers.”

"Bristol Myers Squibb’s announcement is a tremendous win for Texas and the Houston region, further reinforcing our position as a premier destination for life sciences and advanced manufacturing,” added Greater Houston Partnership President and CEO Steve Kean.

Last fall, Eli Lilly and Co. selected Generation Park, a 4,300-acre, master-planned commercial district near Lake Houston, for its $6.5 billion manufacturing plant. More than 300 locations in the U.S. competed for the factory. Read more here.

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