Rice President Reginald DesRoches and Texas Medical Center President and CEO Bill McKeon joined other university leaders Sept. 12 at a ceremony that simultaneously marked the start of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad and the 61st anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 speech at Rice Stadium announcing the Apollo moonshot program.
Four Rice undergraduates latest Owls to win coveted Goldwater Scholarship
Rising Rice seniors Maria Hancu, Alex Lin, Ryan Wang and Ruofeng “Charlie” Liu are the latest Owls to win the coveted Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed each year upon pioneering STEM undergraduates across the country planning to pursue doctoral degrees.
Rice chemist wins $3.2M National Cancer Institute grant
Rice University chemist Han Xiao has won a $3.2 million research project (R01) grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop the first tissue-specific epigenetic inhibitor drug to treat bone metastasis.
Neuroengineering’s InterfaceRice 2023 conference draws 160-plus
More than 160 leaders in neurotechnology, neuroscience, neuroengineering and neurosurgery attended InterfaceRice 2023, the inaugural conference of the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative, May 18-19.
Rice U. bioengineering Ph.D. named Schmidt Science Fellow
Rice U. doctoral alum Joshua Chen has won a prestigious Schmidt Science Fellowship that will support his goal of building new technologies to address pressing health care challenges by drawing on his interdisciplinary skill set in bioelectronics and synthetic biology.
Upgraded tumor model optimizes search for cancer therapies
Rice U. bioengineers have developed an upgraded tumor model that houses bone cancer cells beside immune cells inside a 3D structure engineered to mimic bone and, through research using the model, found that the body’s immune response can make tumor cells more resistant to chemotherapy.
Fats help tag medical implants as friend or foe
Rice University bioengineer Omid Veiseh and collaborators found that lipid deposition on the surfaces of medical implants can play a mediating role between the body and implants, knowledge that could help scientists develop biomaterials or coatings for implants that could reduce malfunction rates.
Rice scientists reengineer cancer drugs to be more versatile
Rice University scientists enlist widely used cancer therapy systems to control gene expression in mammalian cells, a feat of synthetic biology that could change how diseases are treated.
Mosquito’s DNA could provide clues on gene expression, regulation
Rice University researchers discover that the Aedes aegypti mosquito’s DNA has the physical properties of a liquid crystal, a unique feature not found in any other species that could provide new clues on the factors that govern gene expression and regulation.
Peptide 3D-printing inks could advance regenerative medicine
How do you build complex structures for housing cells using a material as soft as Jell-O? Rice University researchers have the answer with a new 3D-printing ink.
Rice lab uncovers dynamics behind protein crucial in breast cancer
Just as a puppeteer moves a puppet by manipulating its strings, estrogen receptors, which play a crucial role in breast cancer, work in similar ways when they facilitate the interaction between hormones and DNA, according to Rice scientists.
New fluorescent dye can light up the brain
Rice chemist Han Xiao and Stanford researcher Zhen Cheng have developed a tool for noninvasive brain imaging that can help illuminate hard-to-access structures and processes. Their small-molecule dye is the first of its kind that can cross the blood-brain barrier, allowing researchers to differentiate between healthy brain tissue and a glioblastoma tumor in mice.
DARPA grant will fund hunt for drug that can keep people warm
Rice University bioengineer Jerzy Szablowski has won a prestigious DARPA Young Faculty Award to identify nongenetic drugs that can temporarily enhance the human body’s resilience to extreme cold exposure.
Rice University scientists get fungi to spill their secrets
As anyone who has ever attended a cocktail party can tell you, shedding inhibitions makes you more talkative and possibly more prone to divulging secrets. Fungi, it turns out, are no different from humans in this respect.
De Lange Conference puts spotlight on technology, culture and society
Rice University hosted the De Lange Conference Dec. 5-6 at its BioScience Research Collaborative and the Ion.
