Houston, TX – August 4, 2025 – The Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s largest sources of private funding for basic chemical research, today announced recipients for two of its grant programs: the Welch eXperimental (WelchX) Collaboration Retreat and Pilot Grants and the Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation Grants.
“As these programs become more established, it is thrilling to see the new research our awardees are exploring,” said Adam Kuspa, President of The Welch Foundation. “The Foundation is very pleased by the applications that we continue to receive describing exciting new research projects to advance chemical research.”
WELCHX PILOT GRANTS
WelchX brings Texas researchers together to topically focused chemistry meetings, stimulating them to ideate challenging issues of our time, while fostering lasting connections and increasing the density of research ties across the state. In June, 18 researchers gathered in Houston to explore this year’s theme, Chemical Research for Grand Challenges. Participants were invited to develop the collaborative concepts they designed at the retreat into proposals for consideration to be one of the $100,000 WelchX Pilot Grants. This year’s recipients are:
- Yimo Han, Rice University, and Yuanyue Liu, The University of Texas at Austin, “Stabilizing Copper Electrocatalysts for CO2 Conversion”
- Benjamin Janesko, Texas Christian University, and MD Masud Rana, Lamar University, “Cyber Twin Chemical Ensembles for Near-Infrared-Emitting Graphene Quantum Dot Therapeutics”
- Ivan Korendovych, Baylor University, and Dino Villagrán, The University of Texas at El Paso, “Selective Bio-Inspired Electrochemical Probes for PFAS Analysis and Degradation”
- Samantha Kristufek, Texas Tech University, and Kayla Green, Texas Christian University, “CIRCUIT: Critical Ion Recovery using Conductive and Ultrafiltration Intelligent Technology”
- Indrajit Srivastava, Texas Tech University, and Ognjen Miljanic, University of Houston, “'Ping-Pong' Afterglow Luminescence in Self-Assembled Molecular Cubes”
- Andy Thomas, Texas A&M University, and Raúl Hernández Sánchez, Rice University, “Accelerating Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agent Discovery via Rapid Injection NMR: Improving the Detection of Lithium for Disease Diagnostics”
- Fang Xu, The University of Texas at San Antonio, and Hong Wang, University of North Texas, “Visualize Molecular Adsorption on Supported Ni-porphyrin Model Catalysts via Substitute Effect”
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS GRANTS
The Welch Foundation’s Postdoctoral Fellows Grant Program provides three-year fellowships at $100,000 per year to recent PhD graduates from around the world, supporting the development of their research careers in Texas by funding fellows who intend to tackle important problems in novel ways in laboratories offering world-class training. This year’s fellows are:
- Kate Baumler, Baylor University, "Crystal Growth of Ln2Fe4Sb5 Phases Toward the Study of Novel Quantum Properties”
- Teng Yuan, Rice University, “Unlocking New Chemistry of Nonheme Iron Enzymes for α-Amino Acids and γ-Lactones Synthesis”
About The Welch Foundation
Since 1954, the Houston-based Welch Foundation has contributed over $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry through research grants, departmental research grants, endowed chairs and support for other chemistry-related programs in Texas. In 2023, the Foundation expanded its grant programs to include the Postdoctoral Fellows Grant Program, the Catalyst for Discovery Program Grants, the WelchX Retreat and Pilot Grants, and the Equipment Grant Program. The Foundation also bestows the annual Welch Award in Chemistry, recognizing achievement in basic research internationally, and the Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research to early-career Texas scientists. For more information, visit www.welch1.org.
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