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thewelchfoundation.bsky.social
The Welch Foundation
@thewelchfoundation.bsky.social
We are one of the United States' largest private funding sources for fundamental chemical research at universities, colleges and other educational institutions in Texas. Advancing Chemistry, Improving Life. www.welch1.org
Congratulations to #WelchGrantee Junichiro Kono for winning APS's 2026 Frank Isakson Prize for optical effects in solids! www.aps.org/funding-reco...
www.aps.org
December 5, 2025 at 8:46 PM
New therapeutic target of leukemia discovered in the form of nuclear droplets. 🩸Researchers in the @goodell-lab.bsky.social and @superscijew.bsky.social labs at @bcmhouston.bsky.social discover nuclear condensates or "C-bodies" that could link multiple leukemias. #WelchGrantee tinyurl.com/5da479yn
December 5, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Researchers in the Eric Anslyn, Thomas M Truskett and Delia Milliron labs have developed a way to control gelation temperature and network structure in terpyridine-functionalized tin-doped indium oxide nanocrystals. 🧊 https://bit.ly/4rw4n79 #WelchFunded #WelchChair
Colloidal Phase Control in Plasmonic Metal Oxide Nanocrystals via Competitive Metal–Ligand Equilibria
We achieve programmable gelation temperature and network structure in terpyridine-functionalized tin-doped indium oxide nanocrystals. This strategy leverages the tuning of competitive metal–terpyridi...
bit.ly
December 5, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Researchers at @uh.edu are designing polymers used in robotic hands!🤚🤖 Check out more of #WelchCatalyst grantee Alamgir Karim's work at Altus designing flexible polymers with mechanical shrinkage upon electrical stimulation. tinyurl.com/y6xk44bx
University of Houston Assists in Designing Robotic Hands for Use in Health, Agriculture, Manufacturing | University of Houston
A collaborative team of researchers is creating skill-augmented prosthetic hands, drawing from years of study on how people use their hands, to bridge the gap in industry and bring functional dexterit...
tinyurl.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Inspired by the two-faced 🎭 Roman god of transitions, Janus, the Shengxi Huang lab at Rice University discover ultra-thin #semiconductor materials that atomically rearrange upon stimulation by light. #WelchGrantee bit.ly/49QUqL9
Optomechanical Tuning of Second Harmonic Generation Anisotropy in Janus MoSSe/MoS2 Heterostructures
Symmetry breaking in van der Waals materials enables the realization of quantum states and advanced device functionalities. Janus transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit distinctive nonlinear ...
bit.ly
December 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Congratulations to our 2025 #HackermanAwardee,
Haotian Wang for being a finalist at the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards Startup of the Year! 🚀 His energy transition company, Solidec, was spun-out of Rice University
research. tinyurl.com/mr282rcx
December 5, 2025 at 5:28 PM
The Kono lab at Rice University is engineering atoms to merge with light! #WelchFunded researchers demonstrate phonons in thin films of lead halide perovskite can interact with light through ultrastrong coupling, such that they form entirely new hybrid states of matter. tinyurl.com/5bmbuv5z
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December 5, 2025 at 5:04 PM
#WelchGrantees are paving the way in neurodegenerative disease research. The Korendovych lab at @baylor.bsky.social designed self-assembling amyloid peptides that promote natural neurotransmitter degradation in the presence of copper using O2 and H2O2 with high efficiency. tinyurl.com/yy77zsc2
Amyloid Peptide Nanofibrils Promote Efficient Neurotransmitter Oxidation and Serve as Scaffolds for Melanin Production
Short amyloid peptides can act as efficient catalysts of neurotransmitter degradation, and libraries of short peptides can be used to identify core fragments present in larger proteins that might be ...
tinyurl.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Congratulations to #WelchGrantee Kayla Green on receiving TCU’s Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Achievement! Her inspiring mentorship and groundbreaking work on inorganic catalysts are paving new paths in neurodegenerative disease research. https://bit.ly/47UXJzn
Chancellor’s Award Winner Exemplifies Creative Teaching, Scholarship
The 2025 winner of the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher and Scholar is Kayla Green, professor of chemistry in TCU’s College of Science & Engineering.
www.tcu.edu
December 4, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Congratulations to Steven McKnight and his team @utswtxid.bsky.social for a well-deserved 2025 Lasker award! Prof. McKnight was also awarded the 2020 #WelchAward in chemistry. bit.ly/4o3GWih
Structures and functions of low-complexity domains - Lasker Foundation
For their discovery of the two distinct classes of lymphocytes, B and T cells – a monumental achievement that provided the organizing principle of the adaptive immune system and launched the course of...
bit.ly
December 4, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Congrats to our #SAB member Geoff Coates @thecoatescrew.bsky.social for winning a 2026 Benjamin Franklin Medal in "transformative work at the interface of chemical catalyst design and polymer science leading to novel ways of making biodegradable and recyclable plastics" https://fi.edu/en/awards
The Franklin Institute Awards
Since 1824, The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia has honored the legacy of Benjamin Franklin by presenting awards for outstanding achievements in science, engineering, and industry. As the oldest comprehensive science and technology awards program in the United States, The Franklin Institute Awards Program has recognized more than 2,000 of the most pioneering scientists, engineers, inventors, and innovators from across the globe.
fi.edu
December 2, 2025 at 8:59 PM
David Mitlin's lab at @universityoftexas.bsky.social has engineered zirconia into garnet to enhance solid-state electrolyte stability, which improves battery 🔋 performance and lowers manufacturing cost. #WelchGrantee www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Grain boundary zirconia-modified garnet solid-state electrolyte - Nature Materials
Garnet-type LLZO electrolytes are considered among the most promising solid-state electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries; however, numerous challenges need to be addressed before they are integrat...
www.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Principal Investigator Jeanne Stachowiak and researchers at @utaustin.bsky.social demonstrate that protein condensates provide a platform for recruitment and assembly of clathrin triskelia using in vitro reconstitution and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Of condensates and coats - reciprocal regulation of clathrin assembly and the growth of protein networks - Nature Communications
Biomolecular condensates of Eps15 recruit and assemble clathrin. In turn, clathrin assembly restricts condensate growth while imposing the preferred curvature of the clathrin lattice.
www.nature.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
@riceuniversity.bsky.social researchers develop a one-step, acid-free, and alkali-free extraction process for Lithium (Li) from mineral ores with an initial Li content of only 4.8%. www.science.org/doi/full/10....
One-step separation of lithium from natural ores in seconds
A one-step, acid-free method extracts LiCl from α-spodumene with high purity, high yield, and reduced environmental burden.
www.science.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by The Welch Foundation
Know a chemist doing world-changing work? Nominate them for the @thewelchfoundation.bsky.social Welch Award — open till January.
Explainer: the Welch Award in Chemistry
Many people have never heard about one of the biggest awards in chemistry. Chemistry World sets the record straight.
www.chemistryworld.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by The Welch Foundation
Had a fantastic time at the New Horizons in Drug Discovery conference put on by @thewelchfoundation.bsky.social - also loved this slide from @dschweppe.bsky.social, sums me up pretty well
October 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by The Welch Foundation
Nine @thewelchfoundation.bsky.social Welch Award winners later won Nobel Prizes. Might this prize have predictive power?
Explainer: the Welch Award in Chemistry
Many people have never heard about one of the biggest awards in chemistry. Chemistry World sets the record straight.
www.chemistryworld.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
In a Welch Foundation supported study, Endowed Chair Jan-Åke Gustafsson and @uh.edu researchers suggest that defects in glial cells can have profound effects on neuronal survival and that early defective oligodendrocyte maturation can lead to motor neuron death. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Role of LXRβ in oligodendrocytes in neuronal survival - Molecular Psychiatry
Molecular Psychiatry - Role of LXRβ in oligodendrocytes in neuronal survival
www.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:22 PM
In a Welch Foundation supported study, researchers at UT San Antonio present cryo-EM reconstructions that reveal the molecular mechanism of SUMO E1–E2 thioester transfer. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cryo-EM structures reveal the molecular mechanism of SUMO E1–E2 thioester transfer - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
This study reveals how human small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) E1 recruits its E2 partner UBC9 and transfers SUMO1 through large structural changes, uncovering key mechanisms that ensure specificit...
www.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by The Welch Foundation
Tune in virtually Oct 27–28 for the 2025 Welch Conference—which includes Dr. Peter Schultz & Dr. Stuart Schreiber! Hosted by Dr. Kevan Shokat, with leading scientists exploring “New Horizons in Drug Discovery.”

🎥 Free to join: cvent.me/Evevn8
October 23, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Join us for the 2025 Welch Conference on Chemical Research, “New Horizons in Drug Discovery,” Oct. 27-28 in-person or virtually. The event is completely free! Find more information here: welch1.org/conference/c...
Conference Overview
welch1.org
October 20, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Wenbo Li and researchers at UT Health Science Center at Houston expand the application of low-dose electron microscopy in molecular imaging and analysis, establishing it as a spatially resolved and quantitative tool for studying molecular behaviors in real space that is previously inaccessible.
Real-Space Quantitative Molecular Analysis at Single-Molecule Resolution
Advances in molecular analysis and characterization techniques should revolutionize the methods for scientific exploration across physics, chemistry, and biology, fundamentally overturning our underst...
pubs.acs.org
October 20, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Principal Investigator Jeffrey D. Hartgerink and @riceuniversity.bsky.social researchers present self-assembling boronate ester release (SABER) multidomain peptides capable of engaging in dynamic covalent bonding with payloads containing boronic acids.
Nanofibrous supramolecular peptide hydrogels for controlled release of small-molecule drugs and biologics - Nature Nanotechnology
Self-assembled multidomain supramolecular peptide hydrogels that engage in dynamic covalent bonding with small-molecule drugs and biologics are shown to offer sustained release, extend the activity, a...
www.nature.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:54 PM
In a Welch Foundation supported study, researchers at @riceuniversity.bsky.social have unveiled a novel mathematical framework that deciphers the complex physics underlying ovarian aging and menopause timing. news.rice.edu/news/2025/ne...
news.rice.edu
October 14, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Principal Investigator Bryan Davies and researchers at @utaustin.bsky.social describes a new method of coating antibodies with a positive charge, allowing them to slip deep into the outer membrane, find a key structural protein, and burst open the bacterium. lcid.utexas.edu/news/researc...
Re-engineered Antibodies Kill Bacteria Directly
These antibodies use a clever trick to slip deep into a bacteria's outer membrane, where they can do real damage.
lcid.utexas.edu
October 10, 2025 at 11:12 PM