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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Houston biotech company tests hard-to-fight cancer therapeutics

fighting cancer

A Houston-based, female-founded biotech company has developed a treatment that could prove to be an effective therapy for a rare blood cancer.

Cellenkos Therapeutics has completed promising Phase 1b testing of its Treg cell therapy, CK0804, in the fight against myelofibrosis. According to a news release from the Cellenkos team, the use of its cord-blood-derived therapeutics could signal a paradigm shift for the treatment of this hard-to-fight cancer.

Cellenkos was founded by MD Anderson Cancer Center physician and professor Simrit Parmar. Her research at the hospital displayed the ability of a unique subset of T cells’ capability to home in on a patient’s bone marrow, restoring immune balance, and potentially halting disease progression.

Myelofibrosis has long been treated primarily with JAK (Janus Kinase) inhibitors, medications that help to block inflammatory enzymes. They work by suppressing the immune response to the blood cancer, but don’t slow the progression of the malady. And they’re not effective for every patient.

“There is a significant need for new therapeutic options for patients living with myelofibrosis who have suboptimal responses to approved JAK inhibitors,” Parmar says. “We are greatly encouraged by the safety profile and early signs of efficacy observed in this patient cohort and look forward to continuing our evaluation of the clinical potential of CK0804 in our planned expansion cohort.”

The expansion cohort is currently enrolling patients with myelofibrosis. What exactly are sufferers dealing with? Myelofibrosis is a chronic disease that causes bone marrow to form scar tissue. This makes it difficult for the body to produce normal blood cells, leaving patients with fatigue, spleen enlargement and night sweats.

Myelofibrosis is rare, with just 16,000 to 18,500 people affected in the United States. But for patients who don’t respond well to JAKs, the prognosis could mean a shorter span than the six-year median survival rate outlined for the disease by Cleveland Clinic.

Helping myelofibrosis patients to thrive isn’t the only goal for Cellenkos right now.

The company seeks to aid people with rare conditions, particularly inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, with the use of CK0804, but also other candidates including one known as CK0801. The latter drug has shown promising efficacy in aplastic anemia, including transfusion independence in treated patients.

The company closed its $15 million series A round led by BVCF Management, based in Shanghai, in 2021. Read more here.

Pioneering Houston biotech startup expands to Brazil for next phase

On the Move

Houston biotech company Cemvita has expanded into Brazil. The company officially established a new subsidiary in the country under the same name.

According to an announcement made earlier this month, the expansion aims to capitalize on Brazil’s progressive regulatory framework, including Brazil’s Fuel of the Future Law, which was enacted in 2024. The company said the expansion also aims to coincide with the 2025 COP30, the UN’s climate change conference, which will be hosted in Brazil in November.

Cemvita utilizes synthetic biology to transform carbon emissions into valuable bio-based chemicals.

“For decades Brazil has pioneered the bioeconomy, and now the time has come to create the future of the circular bioeconomy,” Moji Karimi, CEO of Cemvita, said in a news release. “Our vision is to combine the innovation Cemvita is known for with Brazil’s expertise and resources to create an ecosystem where waste becomes opportunity and sustainability drives growth. By joining forces with Brazilian partners, Cemvita aims to build on Brazil’s storied history in the bioeconomy while laying the groundwork for a circular and sustainable future.”

The Fuel of the Future Law mandates an increase in the biodiesel content of diesel fuel, starting from 15 percent in March and increasing to 20 percent by 2030. It also requires the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and for domestic flights to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 percent starting in 2027, growing to 10 percent reduction by 2037.

Cemvita agreed to a 20-year contract that specified it would supply up to 50 million gallons of SAF annually to United Airlines in 2023.

"This is all made possible by our innovative technology, which transforms carbon waste into value,” Marcio Da Silva, VP of Innovation, said in a news release. “Unlike traditional methods, it requires neither a large land footprint nor clean freshwater, ensuring minimal environmental impact. At the same time, it produces high-value green chemicals—such as sustainable oils and biofuels—without competing with the critical resources needed for food production."

In 2024, Cemvita became capable of generating 500 barrels per day of sustainable oil from carbon waste at its first commercial plant. As a result, Cemvita quadrupled output at its Houston plant. The company had originally planned to reach this milestone in 2029.

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.

Houston Public Library to open new state-of-the-art TECHLink center in 2025

Innovation Station

Work is underway for a new state-of-the-art TECHLink space from Houston Public Library (HPL). The free center for innovators and creatives is expected to open in fall 2025 at Vinson Neighborhood Library this year.

The new 3,480-square-foot space will replace the branch’s existing HPL Express area, which closed January 25 in preparation for construction. This will be HPL's fifth TECHLink center, and it will serve one of South Houston's busiest libraries, notes a release.

“I always look forward to seeing our customers’ creative wheels turning and formulating plans once they recognize all of the technologies and equipment that they can freely access,” Roland Lemonius, TECHLink Division Manager, said in a news release.

TECHLink Vinson will include HPL's largest TECHLink video studio and also a dedicated studio/set for podcasts and vloggers.

HPL TECHLinkVideo studio at TECHLink Dixon. Courtesy of HPL

It will also feature a music recording studio, an editing lab, and a Makerspace lab for 3D printing and laser engraving. Virtual and in-person training opportunities will be available in a training lab in the future, according to HPL.

For kids, the Tiny Techs Zone offers a dedicated area to educate youth on 3D printing and robotics.

“Being able to enhance their quality of life in this way along with our other library services is very rewarding,” Lemonius added in the release.

TECHLink Vinson will join four other locations:

  • TECHLink Alief
  • TECHLink Dixon
  • TECHLink Scenic Woods
  • TECHLink Walker
Find a virtual tour of the Dixon location here.


croployaltyshopping_cartlocal_librarydeleteTECHLINKTECHLink Vinson will join four other locations, including DIxon. Courtesy of HPL


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