houck2040/research_news huggingface dataset:
CPRIT also awarded Texas A&M a $2.9 million grant to recruit Alison R. Fout, associate professor, Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The CPRIT Scholar program gives the state an undisputed competitive edge by recruiting the most innovative minds in cancer research to come to Texas institutions and conduct their work.
In the category of Prevention Grants, CPRIT awarded $2.5 million to Jason McKnight, clinical assistant professor, Department of Primary Care and Population Health, and director, Residency Recruitment, Texas A&M Family Medicine Residency Program, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health, to support a project titled, “Leveraging Texas C-STEP’s Robust Rural Partnerships for Successful Expansion of its Proven Colorectal Cancer Screening Program to include HCV Screening.”
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) announced today four Texas A&M University faculty members as 2022 NAI Senior Members: three from the College of Engineering and one from Texas A&M Health.
They are among 83 academic inventors from 41 member institutions and research universities who are named in today’s NAI announcement. Collectively, the 2022 class of NAI Senior Members has produced more than 1,093 issued U.S. patents, the NAI said.
The 2022 NAI Senior Members from Texas A&M are:
Melissa A. Grunlan, Charles H. and Bettye Barclay Professor in Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
Magnus Höök, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health
Andreas A. Polycarpou, James J. Cain ’51 Chair Professor, J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
Taylor Ware, associate professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
The academy will induct its newest NAI Senior Members during its 11th annual meeting on June 14-15 in Phoenix. The NAI established the title of NAI Senior Member in 2019.
This year’s selections bring the number of current Texas A&M faculty members who are NAI Senior Members to 15. In addition, 16 current or past A&M faculty members are NAI Fellows.
NAI is a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes with more than 4,000 individual inventor members and fellows spanning more than 250 institutions worldwide.
The Texas A&M Energy Institute and the Texas A&M Institute of Data Science (TAMIDS) have signed a formal agreement to update two current certificate programs and to add a third, the Division of Research announced today.
Under the agreement, the institutes plan to work on at least two major projects. One will upgrade the Energy Institute’s existing Master of Science in Energy and Certificate in Energy programs by adding a unit on “energy digitization,” the intersection between data science and the world’s energy sector. The other will develop a Certificate in Data Sciences and Energy program that the institutes will administer together.
Leadership from each institute signed a formal memorandum of understanding on Nov. 17, 2021. Under the agreement, the institutes may choose to work together on a series of educational and workforce-development offerings.
“Energy and data science are areas that are both undergoing rapid change,” said Nick Duffield, the director of the Texas A&M Institute of Data Science and the Royce E. Wisenbaker Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. “The partnership between TAMIDS and the Energy Institute will leverage the unique strengths of our research and education programs. I am looking forward to collaborating with the Energy Institute to drive interdisciplinary innovation.”
“The revolution that is taking place in both energy and data analytics poses new challenges and calls for innovative approaches to research and education,” said Stratos Pistikopoulos, the director of the Texas A&M Energy Institute and the Dow Chemical Chair in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering. “Our two institutes at Texas A&M, through this joint academic program, are uniquely positioned to address them and provide a platform to educate and train the future leaders in the data science for energy space.”
The Energy Institute is jointly operated by Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES). TAMIDS is jointly operated by Texas A&M, TEES and Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Both institutes report to Texas A&M’s Division of Research.
By Research Communications and Public Relations
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION (Jan. 10, 2022) – Texas A&M University rose by eight positions in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) latest annual rankings for total research and development (R&D) expenditures among U.S. institutions, the university announced today.
Texas A&M jumped from 22nd to 14th in the NSF’s newest Higher Education and Research Development (HERD) Survey, released on Dec. 27, 2021. NSF based the ranking on the $1.131 billion in total research expenditures that A&M reported for fiscal year 2020.
Also, Texas A&M ranked in the top ten for public higher education institutions and rose significantly in the NSF rankings for federal research expenditures from 36th ($360 million) to 24th ($517 million).
Chancellor John Sharp said investments in recruiting National Academy members and other outstanding faculty members are paying dividends. “Now that we have passed $1 billion, it is obvious to me that the sky is the limit,” he said.
Texas A&M’s significant increase is due to a federal contract with the Department of Health and Human Services administered by Texas A&M Health for the Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing to provide for faster delivery of a safe and effective vaccine for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic since large scale bio-manufacturing traditionally has had long lead times.
“As a Tier 1 research institution, we are committed to addressing critical needs,” said Texas A&M President M. Katherine Banks. “I applaud our talented researchers whose expertise and innovation has sustained the growth of our research enterprise.”
The amounts of R&D spending reported to NSF include all funds expended for activities specifically organized to produce research outcomes and sponsored by an outside organization or separately accounted for using institution funds. NSF considers total research expenditures as a sign of an institution’s contribution to the advancement of U.S. research.
The university’s annual total research and development expenditures includes figures from the flagship university in College Station, its campus in Galveston and The Texas A&M University System agencies.
The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station also increased federal expenditures by $17 million, primarily due to commencement of a cooperative agreement for the U.S. Army supporting research into new technologies to help the Army Futures Command modernize the nation’s fighting force.
“This increase demonstrates the strength and vitality of the research enterprise at Texas A&M despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Interim Vice President for Research Jack Baldauf. “I’m extremely proud of our campus research community and the efforts expended conducting life-changing research.”
Of the $86.4 billion total noted in the fiscal year 2020 NSF HERD Survey, nearly half went toward health sciences and biomedical sciences, far outpacing other initiatives. The NSF HERD survey is an annual census of all known eligible U.S. institutions that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for research and development in the fiscal year.
Johns Hopkins University led the latest survey with $3.1 billion in expenditures, followed by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with $1.67 billion and the University of California, San Francisco, with $1.65 billion.
Among other Texas-based universities ranked in the top 50, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center ranked 18th on the latest survey with $1.05 billion; the University of Texas at Austin, 34th with $797 million; the Baylor College of Medicine, 42nd with $685.6 million; and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 47th with $595.9 million.
About Research at Texas A&M University: As one of the world’s leading research institutions, Texas A&M is at the forefront in making significant contributions to scholarship and discovery, including in science and technology. Research conducted at Texas A&M generated annual expenditures of more than $1.13 billion in fiscal year 2020 and ranked 14th in the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development Survey. Texas A&M’s research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting, in many cases, in economic benefits to the state, nation and world. To learn more, visit Research@Texas A&M.
Media Contact: Research Communications, research-communications@tamu.edu
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) will induct seven faculty members from Texas A&M University as 2021 AAAS Fellows during the association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia on Feb. 19, 2022, the Division of Research announced today.
Founded in 1848, AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society, serving 10 million individuals through more than 250 affiliated societies and academies.
The 2021 class of AAAS Fellows includes 564 scientists, engineers and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines.
“This is a significant milestone, congratulations to each for receiving this high honor,” Interim Vice President for Research Jack G. Baldauf said.
The 2021 AAAS Fellows from Texas A&M University are:
Deb Bell-Pedersen, Department of Biology, College of Science, for “distinguished contributions to the field of molecular biology, particularly using Neurospora to understand genetic controls of circadian rhythms and circadian rhythm controls of gene expression.”
Valen Johnson, Department of Statistics, College of Science, for “distinguished contributions to the field of Bayesian statistics and cancer research, and exceptional scientific leadership locally and nationally.”
Robin Murphy, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, College of Engineering, for “founding the field of search-and-rescue robotics and pioneering the field of human-robot interaction, and for informing policy and practice in rescue robotics worldwide.”
Stephen Safe, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, for “distinguished contributions to the scientific knowledge used to advance the safe use of chemicals in commerce and development of more effective and safe pharmaceuticals.”
Virender K. Sharma, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, for “exceptional contributions in the field concerning the occurrence and remediation of toxins, antibiotics, antibiotics resistance bacteria and genes, and nanoparticles to address real-world challenges of water sustainability.”
Kathy Svoboda, Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Dentistry, for “distinguished contributions to the study of the influence of the extracellular matrix on development, and for leadership in the field of oral and craniofacial developmental biology.”
Reginald W. Taylor, Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, for “distinguished contributions to the field of oral and craniofacial biology, particularly in matrix biology, diagnostic sciences and the mentoring of a diverse cadre of dental students at all levels.”
Texas A&M High Performance Research Computing (HPRC) recently worked with two Texas community colleges to promote building research partnerships through a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project.
HPRC partnered with South Plains College and San Jacinto College to offer the first Building Research Innovations at Community Colleges (BRICCs) workshop. BRICCs is an innovative pr­oject that explores ways to improve the computing divide in higher education.
“We have been aware of communities that are actively working in this space, but have lacked a forum for them to share their work. BRICCs’ focus is to fill this pivotal role” said Dhruva Chakravorty, HPRC’s associate director for user services and research and principal investigator for the NSF grant.
The workshop focused on computing technology deployments as well as academic and research initiatives that would benefit from these technologies. With the objective of facilitating communications between these communities, the workshop was structured to offer opportunities to learn about the technical, administrative and academic aspects of this challenge. South Plains College hosted the workshop in conjunction with the annual Texas Association of Community Colleges meeting of chief information officers (CIOs) at its Levelland campus.
James Van Howell, associate dean of information services at South Plains College, and co-organizer of the workshop said, “Community colleges and research are not terms that customarily go together. However, students are now facing requirements to expand their knowledge in an empirical way. All community college students, vocational technical, liberal arts and STEM will need research skills to be successful. I think the value of this workshop was the collaboration of colleges who are actively teaching research practices with schools who are just starting their journey.”
Stressing the need for platforms that help the various groups communicate and share resources, Sarah Janes, associate vice chancellor, continuing and professional development at San Jacinto College, said, “As community colleges begin to understand the need for all levels within a workforce sector to have some digital skills including some ability to understand what data tells them, the colleges will need to offer modules focused on these skills. Communication within colleges in which all workforce programs are involved will be paramount to developing these modules without redundancy but with more efficiency and effectiveness throughout the college programs. Those who attended the BRICCs workshop were made aware of this basic communication need.”
More than 100 participants from across the nation attended the hybrid in-person and virtual workshop. Participants included faculty, administrators, CIOs and information-technology professionals at two-ye­ar and four-year institutions, along with representatives from industry and non-profits.
Stakeholders representing various communities and programs with overlapping interests in this space spoke about their programs and discussed foreseeable needs­­ and opportunities for collaboration.
To learn more about BRICCs and participate in future events, please visit the BRICCs website at hprc.tamu.edu/briccs
Principal investigators for eight interdisciplinary research teams from Texas A&M University present their X-Grants projects during the third annual President’s Excellence Fund Symposium today, Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, beginning at 9 a.m. CDT online at https://pef-symposium.tamu.edu.
The virtual symposium features eight pre-recorded video presentations from principal investigators whose teams received Round Three funding from the X-Grants program.
Viewers can watch all presentations at one time, or just the ones they chose—and they can watch the presentations as many times as they like.
The program also features a welcome from Interim Vice President for Research Jack G. Baldauf.
“Congratulations to our Round Three X-Grants teams for advancing Texas A&M’s culture of collaboration,” Baldauf said. “Interdisciplinary research is key to discovering the solutions that will help the world meet its greatest challenges. These projects offer outstanding examples of what researchers can do when they make a concerted effort to work collectively to solve an issue.”
The projects and their principal investigators are:
“SatMission-X: Tracking Freshwater from Space,” George H. Allen, assistant professor, Department of Geography, College of Geosciences.
“Thriving on the Moon,” Jeff Bullard, professor, Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, jointly administered by the colleges of science and engineering.
“Magnetic Mystery in Sensory Biology,” Alma Fernández-González, research scientist, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
“A Multidisciplinary Platform for the Identification of Cancer and COVID-19 Therapeutics,” Wenshe “Ray” Liu, professor and holder of the Gradipore Chair in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, College of Science.
“The Next Defense Barrier in Facing Disasters,” Ali Mostafavi, associate professor, Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering.
“Electroceuticals for Brain Disorders,” D. Samba Reddy, professor, Department of Neurosciences & Experimental Therapeutics, College of Medicine.
“Engineering Nanomedicine for Non-invasive Cancer Therapy,” Shiren Wang, associate professor, Wm Michael Barnes ’64 Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, College of Engineering.
“Integrated Nanophotonics for Next-Generation Internet of Things (IoT),” Zi Jing Wong, assistant professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering.
The second round of the Presidential Clinical Research Partnership (PCRP) program awarded five grants totaling $1 million to interdisciplinary projects that support the development of long-term partnerships between Texas A&M University and its clinical affiliates and partners, the Division of Research announced today. These awards are available for up to $200,000 for a two-year period.
The program aims to foster interdisciplinary research that will improve health, health care and health equity in Texas by advancing novel translational, clinical or educational research.
“Projects funded by the PCRP will confront some of our state’s most vital health issues,”  Interim Vice President for Research Jack G. Baldauf said. “These collaborations serve to enhance Texas A&M’s ability to bring research from the bench to bedside more quickly and efficiently. Congratulations to the faculty members and clinical partners who will receive this funding. We look forward to seeing the results of their efforts.”
PCRP grants are designed to stimulate new collaborations between Texas A&M researchers and clinical partners.
Approved projects must be led jointly by faculty or faculty-equivalent research positions at Texas A&M, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, or the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), and clinical practitioners at healthcare facilities with established affiliation or clinical research collaboration agreements.
The PCRP 2021 grants were awarded to the following Texas A&M faculty members and their clinical partners:
Six postdoctoral researchers received awards for flash talks or poster presentations during Texas A&M University’s Fifth Annual Postdoctoral Research Symposium, which celebrated National Postdoc Appreciation Week.
The Texas A&M Postdoctoral Association, the Texas A&M Health Science Center Postdoctoral Association and the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Postdoctoral Association organized the virtual event.
More than 37 postdocs presented their research to 106 peers, faculty and staff from 15 colleges and schools.
The symposium awarded honors in two categories.
Outstanding Flash Talk Presentations
First place: Lauren Stranahan, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Second place: Ashley Hood, College of Science
Third place: Ziying Lei, College of Geosciences
First place: Cameron Manche, College of Geosciences
Second place (tie): Jaclyn Iannucci, College of Medicine, and Mayur Doke, College of Pharmacy
“We are very pleased with the broad participation and high number of attendees from across Texas A&M campuses, said Andreea Trache, faculty advisor for the Texas A&M Postdoctoral Association, and associate professor, College of Medicine and College of Engineering. “This annual event showcases the postdoctoral scholars’ contribution to the research enterprise at Texas A&M, and the quality of the presentations reflected their professionalism.”
Speakers for the symposium included Jack G. Baldauf, interim vice president for research; Amy Waer, dean, College of Medicine; Michael Criscitiello, associate dean for research and graduate studies, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; and keynote speaker Melanie V. Sinche, interim assistant dean for academic affairs, University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, Connecticut.
Members of the postdoctoral associations’ executive committees organized and coordinated the symposium. The Division of Research, the College of Medicine Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ Office of Research and Graduate Studies provided administrative support.
The Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University announced eight Hagler Fellows for its Class of 2021-22, including a recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics.
This 10th class in the Hagler Institute’s history includes scientists, engineers and scholars who are recognized internationally for their achievements. Each belongs to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, or hold recognitions of equal stature in their fields.
“Every year for the last decade, the Hagler Institute has enhanced the Texas A&M research community through its exceptional ability to consistently attract the world’s brightest minds to our campus,” Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp said. “Combined with the Chancellor’s Research Initiative, the Hagler Institute also persuades many of these National Academy-level researchers to join our own illustrious and permanent faculty.”
The fellows will collaborate with faculty, researchers and students in the colleges of agriculture and life sciences, engineering, medicine and science; Texas A&M AgriLife Research; and the Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering.
“Congratulations to the Hagler Institute for recruiting an outstanding new class of fellows for its 10th anniversary,” Texas A&M Interim Vice President for Research Jack Baldauf said. “We look forward to the collaboration of these renowned scholars with our own outstanding faculty members, researchers and students.”
The Institute selects its Hagler Fellows from among top scholars who have distinguished themselves through outstanding professional accomplishments or significant recognition. Previous classes of Hagler Fellows have included two Nobel laureates, a Wolf Prize recipient, a recipient of the Hubble Medal in Literature for Lifetime Achievement, a recipient of the National Medal of Science, an awardee of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, a two-time recipient of the State Prize of Russia and a recipient of both the National Humanities Medal and the Johan Skytte Prize, the most prestigious award in political science.
“We expect this remarkable tenth class of Hagler Fellows to have a productive and enduring impact on our faculty, our students and on the culture of the Texas A&M campus,” Founding Director John L. Junkins of the Hagler Institute said. “Since 2012, the Hagler Institute has now attracted 88 outstanding scientists, engineers and scholars to enhance our research community.”
The Hagler Institute plans to induct the following Class of 2021-22 Hagler Fellows during its annual gala in early 2022:
Backed by a multi-million-dollar federal grant, a research team from three major universities will soon start working on a pioneering supercomputing system that allows scientists and engineers to align its processors, accelerators, memory and other hardware components to best serve their needs.
This innovative system will operate increasingly complex levels of software while sidestepping the hardware bottlenecks that often hinder high-level computations. This system will let researchers perform calculations and solve problems that current supercomputers cannot handle.