Texas organization grants over $40M to chemistry research in Houston and beyond

fresh funding

In all, the Welch Foundation on June 4 announced more than $40.5 million in academic research grants, equipment grants, and fellowships. Photo via Getty Images

Two local professors are among the newly announced recipients of funding from the Houston-based Welch Foundation, which finances chemical research projects.

The two professors are:

  • Jacinta Conrad, the Frank M. Tiller Professor in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at the University of Houston. Conrad will use her grant to investigate glass transition, a temperature change that affects polymers. She describes glass transition as one of the “most intriguing open problems in physical chemistry.”
  • James Shee, assistant professor in the Chemistry Department at Rice University. Shee will put his grant toward advancing theoretical chemistry.

Every year, the foundation provides annual grants totaling at least $100,000 to support chemistry research being carried out by full-time faculty members at colleges, universities, and other educational institutions in Texas.

In all, the Welch Foundation on June 4 announced more than $40.5 million in academic research grants, equipment grants, and fellowships.

Part of the announced funding will go toward the foundation’s new Postdoctoral Fellows Grant Program. The program provides three-year fellowships to recent PhD graduates to support clinical research careers in Texas. A total of $900,000 in postdoctoral fellowships were funded at Rice University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Since 1954, the Welch Foundation has contributed over $1.1 billion for Texas-nurtured advancements in chemistry through research grants, endowed chairs, and other chemistry-related ventures.

“Ongoing basic chemical research is critically important for helping to solve current and future problems,” said Adam Kuspa, President of the Welch Foundation. “We strongly believe the foundation’s continued support of the research grant program, combined with … new programs, will yield even more exciting developments as we work to advance chemistry and improve our lives.”

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With this new grant, UH has a new center for researching bioactive materials crystallization. Photo via UH.edu

Houston innovator receives $5M to establish new center that explores crystallization process

crystal clear initiative

A new hub at the University of Houston is being established with a crystal-clear mission — and fresh funding.

Thanks to funding from Houston-based organization The Welch Foundation, the University of Houston will be home to the Welch Center for Advanced Bioactive Materials Crystallization. The nonprofit doled out its inaugural $5 million Catalyst for Discovery Program Grant to the new initiative led by Jeffrey Rimer, Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical Engineering, who is known internationally for his work with crystals that help treat malaria and kidney stones.

“Knowledge gaps in the nascent and rapidly developing field of nonclassical crystallization present a wide range of obstacles to design crystalline materials for applications that benefit humankind, spanning from medicine to energy and the environment,” says Rimer in a news release. “Success calls for a paradigm shift in the understanding of crystal nucleation mechanisms and structure selection that will be addressed in this center.”

The Welch Foundation, which was founded in 1954, has granted over $1.1 billion to scientists in Texas. This new grant program targets researchers focused on fundamental chemical solutions. Earlier this year, the organization announced nearly $28 million in grants to Texas institutions.

"Support from the Welch Foundation has led to important advances in the field of chemistry, not only within Texas, but also throughout the United States and the world as a whole,” says Randall Lee, Cullen Distinguished University Chair and professor of chemistry, in the release. “These advances extend beyond scientific discoveries and into the realm of education, where support from the Welch Foundation has played a significant role in building the technological workforce needed to solve ongoing and emerging problems in energy and health care.”

Rimer and Lee are joined by the following researchers on the newly announced center's team:

  • Peter Vekilov, Moores Professor, chemical and biomolecular engineering
  • Alamgir Karim, Dow Chair and Welch Foundation Professor, chemical and biomolecular engineering;
  • Jeremy Palmer, Ernest J. and Barbara M. Henley Associate Professor, chemical and biomolecular engineering
  • Gül Zerze, chemical and biomolecular engineering
  • Francisco Robles Hernandez, professor of engineering technology.

The University of Houston also received another grant from the Welch Foundation. Megan Robertson, UH professor of chemical engineering, received $4 million for her work with developing chemical processes to transform plastic waste into useful materials.

“For the University of Houston to be recognized with two highly-competitive Welch Foundation Catalyst Grants underscores the exceptional talent and dedication of our researchers and their commitment to making meaningful contributions to society through discovery,” Diane Chase, UH senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, says in the release.

The Welch Foundation, a Houston-based nonprofit, has doled out fresh funding to research organizations, with over a third being deployed to Houston-area institutions. Photo via Getty Images

Houston organization announces nearly $28M in Texas research grant funding

money moves

Five schools in the Houston area have landed $10.8 million in research grants from the Houston-based Welch Foundation.

The 36 grants were awarded to Rice University, Texas A&M University, the University of Houston, the Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

In all, the foundation announced nearly $28 million in Texas research grants for 2023. All of the money — in the form of 91 grants for 15 Texas colleges and universities — goes toward chemical research. This year’s total for grant funding matches last year’s total.

“The Welch Foundation continues to emphasize the creative pursuit of basic chemical research,” Adam Kuspa, the foundation’s president and a former dean at the Baylor College of Medicine, says in a news release. “Our funding allows investigators throughout the state to follow their curiosity and explore the foundations chemical processes.”

Since its establishment in 1954, the Welch Foundation has contributed about $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry in Texas.

One of this year’s local grant recipients is Haotian Wang, assistant professor in Rice’s chemical and biomolecular department. The professor’s grant-funded research will focus on the conversion of carbon dioxide into useful chemicals, such as ethanol.

Last year, Rice reported that Wang’s lab in the George R. Brown School of Engineering had replaced rare, expensive iridium with ruthenium, a more abundant precious metal, as the positive-electrode catalyst in a reactor that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.

The lab’s addition of nickel to ruthenium dioxide resulted in production of hydrogen from water electrolysis for thousands of hours.

“There’s huge industry interest in clean hydrogen,” Wang says. “It’s an important energy carrier and also important for chemical fabrication, but its current production contributes a significant portion of carbon emissions in the chemical manufacturing sector globally.”

“We want to produce it in a more sustainable way,” he adds, “and water-splitting using clean electricity is widely recognized as the most promising option.”

Lane Martin will lead the Rice Advanced Materials Institute beginning this summer. Photo courtesy of Rice

Rice University announces leader of new materials and nanotechnology institute

at the helm

A recently established institute at Rice University has revealed its new leader.

The Rice Advanced Materials Institute has named Lane Martin as director. Martin will also serve as Welch Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering. He begins both roles on July 1.

“Lane is everything we expect our faculty to be — hard-working, committed to excellence, dedicated to students and collaborative across disciplines,” says Howard R. Hughes Provost Amy Dittmar in a news release. “I look forward to seeing Rice faculty and students reap the benefits of his leadership.”

Prior to his appointment at Rice, Martin was the chancellor’s professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He also served as chair of the materials science and engineering department, faculty scientist in the material sciences division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and co-director of the Collaborative for Hierarchical Agile and Responsive Materials, according to the release.

“I had the privilege of mentoring Lane when he was a doctoral student at Berkeley,” says Ramamoorthy Ramesh, vice president for research, professor of materials science and nanoengineering and professor of physics and astronomy. “He is a gifted scientist with the boldness and vision to build this new institute into a research powerhouse.”

The new institute was created following a $100 million gift from Houston-based Welch Foundation. It will bring together chemistry, materials science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to revolutionize the future of industry.

“This institute will keep Rice at the forefront of high-impact research related to energy transition, advanced materials and future computing,” says Luay Nakhleh, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of the school, in the release. “It will empower our faculty and students to help solve some of the most pressing problems of our day.”

Houston-based Welch Foundation has awarded almost $28 million in chemical research grants throughout Texas this year. Photo via Getty Images

Houston research organization doles out $28M in grants to innovators across Texas

funding for the future

Chemical researchers at seven institutions in the Houston area are receiving nearly $12.9 million grants from the Houston-based Welch Foundation.

In the Houston area, 43 grants are going to seven institutions:

  • Baylor College of Medicine
  • Rice University
  • Texas A&M University
  • Texas A&M University Health Science Center
  • University of Houston
  • University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  • University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston

The Welch Foundation is awarding almost $28 million in chemical research grants throughout Texas this year. The money will be allocated over a three-year period.

“Today, chemical research is more important than ever for improving the human condition and for meeting the global challenges that threaten our collective future,” says Adam Kuspa, president of the Welch Foundation. “Basic research in chemistry and related fields provides the foundation for groundbreaking scientific discoveries that can help solve current problems and sustain progress.”

Two of the 2022 grant recipients cited by the foundation are:

  • Josephine Chu Ferreon, assistant professor of pharmacology and chemical Biology at the Baylor College of Medicine. She plans to use her Welch grant to conduct research on intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and their potential applications in biotech and nanomedicine. IDPs, known as “dancing proteins,” do not form uniquely defined 3D structures. Because of the structural flexibility, IDPs can pair with ordered proteins to perform functions that structured proteins can’t do on their own.
  • David Powers, assistant professor of chemistry at Texas A&M. He leads a research group focused on the relationship between organic and inorganic chemistry. Members of the group are trying to develop new methods for the sustainable synthesis of functional molecules.

Since its establishment in 1954, the Welch Foundation has contributed more than $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry in Texas. Last year, the organization granted $23 million in funds.

Here's what researchers raked in the cash to support their research. Photo via Getty Images

Fresh funds: 2 Houston organizations dole grants to advance research

research roundup

Funding fuels the research that supports the innovations of tomorrow. Two Houston-based scientific organizations announced funding recipients that are working on advancing research in space health and chemistry.

4 research teams receive funds to advance space health work

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health, known as TRISH, at Baylor College of Medicine has announced almost $4 million in grants to four research teams. As more and more plans to launch humans into space continue to develop, TRISH is working to support research addressing human health in space.

TRISH's Biomedical Research Advances for Space Health initiative looked for new ways to reduce potential damage from the environment through manipulation of human metabolism and the normal state-of-being at the cellular or whole organism level, according to a press release.

"These outstanding awardees brought cutting-edge proposals to the table. Each project provides a unique opportunity to advance human health research on the bleeding edge of science fiction," says TRISH Executive Director, Dorit Donoviel, in the release. "This creative research has the potential to protect all humans through advancing tissue transplantation or helping patients that have medical conditions such as heart or brain damage that could be aided by reducing cellular activity."

The awardees, who will begin their TRISH-funded research in April 2022, for BRASH 2101 included:

  • Clifton Callaway, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    • Cold-Sleep for Long Duration Spaceflight
  • Tammy Chang, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco
    • The Effect of Isochoric Supercooling on Human Liver Metabolic Function
  • Allyson Hindle, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Las Vegas
    • Can Humans Hibernate at Warm Temperatures?
  • Christopher Porada, Ph.D., Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
    • Using Human Organoids and Fossilized Remains from Extinct Hominins to Unlock the Secrets of Torpor/Hibernation

Houston organization names 2021 award recipient

The Welch Foundation has named professor Chi-Huey Wong as the 2021 recipient of the Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry. Wong is a leader in synthetic chemistry and chemical biology. Specifically, the award recognizes Wong for his development of new methods for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates and glycoproteins and the elucidation of carbohydrate-mediated biological recognition associated with disease progression, according to a press release.

"The mission of The Welch Foundation is to improve the lives of others through the advancement of chemical research, and Dr. Wong has been working towards that goal for decades," says Carin Barth, chair and director of The Welch Foundation Board of Directors. "Not only has he made revolutionary advances in chemistry and biology, but his methodologies will facilitate new drug and vaccine developments for years to come."

Wong is the Scripps Family Chair Professor in the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute. He will receive $500,000 to advance his research. Houston-based Welch Foundation has contributed more than $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry since 1954.

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Texas ranks as top U.S. manufacturing hub, behind only one state

By The Numbers

Texas ranks among the country’s biggest hubs for manufacturing, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by Chinese manufacturing components supplier YIJIN Hardware, puts Texas at No. 2 among the states when it comes to manufacturing-hub status. California holds the top spot.

YIJIN crunched data from the U.S. Census Bureau, International Trade Administration, and National Association of Manufacturers to analyze manufacturing activity in each state. The study weighed factors such as number of manufacturing establishments, number of manufacturing employees, total value of manufacturing output, total manufacturing exports and manufacturing’s share of a state’s gross domestic product.

Here are Texas’ figures for those categories:

  • 19,526 manufacturing establishments
  • 847,470 manufacturing employees
  • Total manufacturing output of $292.6 billion
  • Total manufacturing exports of $291.9 billion
  • 11.3 percent share of state GDP

According to Texas Economic Development & Tourism, the state’s largest manufacturing sectors include automotive, tech, petroleum, chemicals, and food and beverage.

“The Lone Star State is truly a manufacturing powerhouse,” the state agency says.

In an October speech, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praised the state’s robust manufacturing industry.

“We are proud that Texas is home to a booming manufacturing sector,” he said. “Thanks to our strong manufacturing sector, ‘Made in Texas’ has never been a bigger brand.”

Houston is a cornerstone of Texas’ manufacturing industry. The region produces more than $75 billion worth of goods each year, according to the Greater Houston Partnership. That makes Houston the second-ranked U.S. metro area for manufacturing GDP. The more than 7,000 manufacturing establishments in the area employ over 223,000 people.

“As one of the most important industrial bases in the world, Houston has access to many global markets thanks to its central location within the U.S. and the Americas,” the partnership says.

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.

Houston's top 25 business and civic leaders named by local organization

HTown leaders

As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, the Center for Houston’s Future has named its first-ever group of Top 25 Business/Civic Leadership Forum Alumni, including energy transition CEOs and legendary craft brewery founders.

The group was selected from among 1,400 alumni of the Center for Houston's Future's Leadership Forum, which hosts two cohorts per year, bringing together leaders from across industries to focus on issues critical to the long-term success of Greater Houston.

The individuals will be honored throughout the year, starting with an event this Thursday, March 20, at the Junior League of Houston called Leaders for Houston’s Future: Women Who Stand Apart, and culminating in the signature Dinner & Conversation event this fall.

Earlier this year, the organization selected an honor roll of 75 Leaders Who Stand Apart before naming the list of 25. See the honor roll here.

“Both our Top 25 and the honor roll of 75 Leaders are a testament to the amazing group of leaders working for the good of our region every day,” David Gow, the center’s CEO and president, said in a statement. “They are also a reflection of the Center’s historical and ongoing commitment to develop, inspire and connect leaders across all facets of our region.

Gow is the founder and chairman of Gow Media, InnovationMap's parent company.

The Top 25 Business/Civic Leadership Forum Alumni list includes:

  • Laura Bellows, president and board chairman, W.S. Bellows Construction
  • Richard Campo, chairman and CEO, Camden Property Trust
  • Anne Chao, co-founder, Houston Asian American Archive
  • Donna Cole, founder, president and CEO, Cole Chemical & Distributing
  • Suzan Deison, CEO, president and founder, Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce
  • Amanda Edwards, principal, The Community Based Solutions Firm
  • Bob Eury, retired president and CEO, Central Houston, Inc.
  • Sidney Evans II, senior advisor, business affairs, Reliant Energy
  • Roland Garcia, shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP
  • Cullen Geiselman, board chair, Houston Parks Board
  • Bernard Harris Jr., former NASA astronaut
  • Winell Herron, senior vice president of public affairs, diversity and environmental affairs, H-E-B
  • Paul Hobby, founder and managing director, Genesis Park
  • Laura Jaramillo, executive director, LISC
  • Melanie Johnson, president and CEO, Collaborative for Children
  • Laura Murillo, president and CEO, Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
  • Wilhelmina "Beth" Robertson, president, Cockspur, Inc. and Westview Development Inc.
  • Judson Robinson III, president and CEO, Houston Area Urban League
  • Kimberly Sterling, principal, Sterling for Good
  • Y. Ping Sun, of counsel, Yetter Coleman LLP
  • Bobby Tudor, founder and CEO, Artemis Energy Partners
  • Brock Wagner, founder, Saint Arnold Brewing Company
  • Barron Wallace, public finance partner and practice group co-Head, Bracewell LLP
  • Marc Watts, president, The Friedkin Group
  • Beth Wolff, founder and chairman, Beth Wolff Realtors

Eury, Sun and Wolff serve on the center’s board of directors.

“I’m grateful to be included on the Top 25,” Wolff said in the release. “I cannot stress enough what an extraordinary opportunity it is to participate in the Leadership Forum and focus on Houston’s future. Fellow cohort members become friends and colleagues working together in service of the community.”

This week's panel will feature Cole, Geiselman and Herron. They will be joined by Lharissa Jacobs, executive director of Fit Houston, who made the top 75 list. Frances Castañeda Dyess, president of the Houston East End Chamber of Commerce, will moderate.

California-based healthcare co. expands to Houston with new bioskills lab

med skills

Axis Research & Technologies, a California-based healthcare innovation solutions and medical research company, has expanded into the Houston area via a new 10,800-square-foot bioskills lab in Shenandoah last month.

The facility includes a main lab that’s configurable into a single space with over 20 stations, two more lab suites for specialized bioskills training, a conference room for presentations and a large multipurpose area.

Medical professionals can simulate a fully functional operating room in the lab for training and education. It also has the capability of handling cadaver specimens.

The company says the new facility aims to serve surgeons, medical device companies, hospitals and research institutions.

Axis was attracted to Houston thanks to the Texas Medical Center and other world-class medical groups, according to a release from the company. The facility in Shenandoah will be near medical facilities in The Woodlands.

“We are thrilled to expand into the Houston market,” Jill Goodwin, COO of Axis, said in a news release. “This new facility was driven by demand from our clients who have expressed a need for a high-quality bioskills lab in Houston. We repeatedly heard this feedback at the most recent American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) conference, which reinforced our decision to bring Axis to the region.”

Axis hosted its first lab event at its Houston-area venue on Feb. 22. The facility is currently accepting bookings for medical trainings, research collaborations and use of its bioskills lab.

“Our goal is to create an environment where groundbreaking medical advancements can take place,” Goodwin added in a news release. “Houston is home to one of the largest medical communities in the country, making it a perfect fit for our expansion.”

Axis' other bioskills labs are located in Nasvhille; Irvine, California; and Columbia, Maryland.

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