A molecular ‘reset button’ for reading the brain through a blood test
Rice bioengineers have designed an erasable serum marker that could enable clinicians to detect problems or measure any changes in how a patient responds to treatment with greater precision, using simple, minimally-invasive testing.
How AI can help detect disease and accelerate medical breakthroughs
As artificial intelligence plays an increasingly prominent role in decoding DNA, tracking pathogens and accelerating drug discovery, the line between real capability and hype can be unclear. Rice experts can provide clear, technically grounded perspectives on how these tools are meaningfully advancing disease detection, public health preparedness and treatment design.
Rice convenes global researchers to advance understanding of quantum geometry in materials
The Rice Center for Quantum Materials hosted a Workshop on Quantum Geometry and Winter School on Quantum Materials Synthesis, bringing together more than 100 researchers, students and scientific leaders from around the world.
Rice engineers show lab-grown diamond films can stop costly mineral buildup in pipes
A new study by Rice engineers shows that lab-grown diamond coatings could help diminish mineral scaling in industrial piping, providing an alternative to chemical additives and mechanical cleaning, both of which offer only temporary relief and carry environmental or operational downsides.
Two-step flash Joule heating method recovers lithium‑ion battery materials quickly and cleanly
A Rice research team has developed a process that rapidly separates lithium and transition metals from spent lithium-ion batteries. The method provides an acid-free, energy-saving alternative to conventional recycling techniques,
Nonsurgical treatment shows promise for targeted seizure control
Rice bioengineers have demonstrated a nonsurgical way to quiet a seizure-relevant brain circuit using a method that merges ultrasound, gene therapy and chemogenetics.
Engineered randomness enhances connection speed and precision in next-generation wireless systems
Rice researchers and collaborators have developed a way to generate and control radio wave patterns that can identify a signal’s direction about ten times better than existing approaches, paving the way for next-generation wireless systems.
Rice researchers weigh in on graphite’s rise to critical mineral status, mapping out trajectories toward more resilient, clean and efficient supply practices and systems.
Rice and Houston Methodist researchers to study brain-implant interface with Dunn Foundation award
A team of researchers from Rice and the Houston Methodist Research Institute has received a John S. Dunn Foundation Collaborative Research Award through the Gulf Coast Consortia to study how the brain responds over time to neural implants.
Rice brings together leading researchers to accelerate next-generation microelectronics
The Rice Advanced Materials Institute (RAMI) hosted a signature workshop centered on advanced microelectronics and photonics materials Nov. 3-4.
Kono awarded American Physical Society’s Isakson Prize
Rice applied physicist Junichiro Kono has been awarded the American Physical Society’s 2026 Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids.
Study shows light can reshape atom-thin semiconductors for next-generation optical devices
Rice researchers studying a class of atom-thin semiconductors known as transition metal dichalcogenides have discovered that light can trigger a physical shift in their atomic lattice, creating a tunable way to adjust the materials’ behavior and properties.
Researchers gather at Rice to bridge quantum materials and quantum information
The Extreme Quantum Materials Alliance (eQMA) in collaboration with Rice’s Smalley-Curl Institute hosted the eQMA Workshop on Hidden Orders and Quantum Entanglement, part of the UNESCO 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology celebration.
Algorithm maps genetic connection between Alzheimer’s and specific neurons
Rice researchers and collaborators developed a computational tool that can help identify which specific types of cells in the body are genetically linked to complex human traits and diseases, including in forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Richards-Kortum elected to the National Academy of Medicine
Rice's Rebecca Richards-Kortum has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the nation’s highest honors in health and medicine. She is one of two Rice faculty who are the only Texas researchers to share membership across the national academies of medicine, science and engineering — an honor held by fewer than 35 researchers nationwide.
