The Welch Foundation Announces 2026 Norman Hackerman Award Recipient
Dr. Sheel Dodani recognized for engineering proteins to act as biosensors for anions
Houston, TX—DECEMBER 17, 2025—The Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s largest sources of private funding for basic chemical research, has awarded the 2026 Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research to Dr. Sheel Dodani, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Texas at Dallas, for her pioneering contributions to the development of engineered proteins as anion sensors in biology.
“Dr. Dodani is using creative and daring chemistry to engineer technologies that can measure and manipulate anions in living systems for the betterment of human health and the environment,” said Fred Brazelton, Chair and Director of The Welch Foundation. “The Welch Foundation is delighted to honor her achievements with the 2026 Hackerman Award in Chemical Research.”
Transforming the Field
Dr. Dodani’s lab created the first coherent suite of genetically encoded, protein-based fluorescent biosensors for inorganic anions. These biosensors have transformed the ability of researchers to achieve real-time visualization of inorganic anions in living systems.
“By harnessing nature’s own molecular machinery, Dr. Dodani has transformed a once intractable problem in biomolecular chemistry into a new frontier of discovery. She already galvanized the study of anions in living systems and going forward we are excited to see where she pilots the field she reinvented,” said Dr. Catherine J. Murphy, Chair of The Welch Foundation Scientific Advisory Board. “We congratulate Dr. Dodani on exemplifying the Welch Foundation’s commitment to advancing chemistry while improving life.”
Anions are negatively charged ions that play critical roles in biological and environmental processes. One example is chloride, an anion that helps regulate fluid balance, blood pressure and pH levels in the human body. The Dodani Lab employs a multidisciplinary approach to study the interactions between such biologically relevant anions and proteins.
Seeing anions light up in cells using the fluorescent biosensors engineered by Dr. Dodani opens new possibilities. “Our technologies capture a different element,” said Dr. Dodani. “A lot of researchers study the proteins that are involved, but we actually capture what the anion is doing in a dynamic way by lighting up the cell.”
The Dodani Lab’s focus on detecting and sensing anions, and especially inorganic anions like chloride, is unique. For decades, the study of anions lagged because they are notoriously difficult to detect in water. Water molecules often outcompete synthetic receptors or protein binding sites for these anions.
“Everything really started with a fundamental question: ‘How do you bind an anion in water?’ Proteins naturally evolved to bind certain anions. So, we’re treating nature as a supramolecular chemist with a reservoir of starting templates. We then use protein engineering to guide nature to
the function we desire. If nature already knows how to do the job, why don’t we use it and adapt it?” said Dr. Dodani.
Dr. Dodani’s biosensor technologies broke through longstanding barriers by achieving selectivity in water, distinguishing closely related anions and enabling real-time, reversible imaging in living cells.
“Dr. Dodani has established a pioneering research program at the chemistry-biology interface, tackling a grand challenge in supramolecular and bioinorganic chemistry: the selective recognition of anions in water,” said Dr. Eric Anslyn, Welch Regents Chair in Chemistry and Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. “Her genetic engineering of fluorescent sensors is advancing basic science while also creating transformative new approaches for global challenges such as cystic fibrosis treatment and bioremediation of forever chemicals like polyfluoroalkyl pollutants (PFAS).”
Coming Full Circle
Dr. Dodani, who is from Plano, Texas, discovered chemistry at UT Dallas. She began her undergraduate studies focused on biology with the intention to become a dentist. Highlighting the importance of lab experience for undergraduates, she discovered a passion for creating molecules during a summer fellowship in a research laboratory. She changed her major to chemistry and learned how to make hoop-like molecules that could capture a “guest” in the hoop using host–guest chemistry, or supramolecular chemistry, with Professor John Sibert.
While completing her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of Professor Christopher Chang, she gained experience with fluorescent probes and related analytical imaging technologies enabling her to apply supramolecular chemistry for answering biological questions. Following her PhD, Dr. Dodani became an NIH postdoctoral fellow in Professor Francis Arnold’s lab at the California Institute of Technology, where she learned how enzymes, a type of protein, can make molecules “for” her, circumventing the need to create them synthetically. She practiced protein engineering and controlled protein sequence for function using direct evolution, the method for which Dr. Arnold later won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In August 2016, Sheel returned to UT Dallas as faculty.
“Coming home to UT Dallas to contribute as faculty to the place that gave me my start has been a privilege,” she said. “UT Dallas and The Welch Foundation provided an environment where I could pursue high-risk, high-reward ideas. That support de-risked the early stages of this research and made our progress possible.”
Pioneering Chemistry, Uplifting Research
The Dodani Lab is committed to open, community-building science. Not only does Dr. Dodani publish her research in top journals, such as Nature Chemistry, Nature Chemical Biology, RSC Chemical Biology, Journal of the American Chemical Society and Angewandte Chemie, but her lab also shares its new technologies through a central repository for research molecules. By making new biosensors widely accessible to other research groups, Dr. Dodani’s team enables researchers across disciplines to ask and answer questions that were once out of reach.
“Community outreach is very important for accelerating discovery,” said Dr. Dodani. “With the technologies we’re building, other researchers in other fields can take them farther than we imagine.”
Dr. Dodani’s achievements have earned significant recognition throughout her career, including a Zasshikai Lectureship from the University of Tokyo, NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award, NSF CAREER Award, Sessler Early Career Researcher Prize, and Rising Stars awards from the University of Chicago and University of Utah.
“I am really surprised and humbled by this recognition from The Welch Foundation,” said Dr. Dodani. “For the science to be recognized as transformative, that’s fantastic. It’s pretty neat that chemistry can enable real-world impact. In the lab, every day brings exciting challenges, and you don’t know what you’re going to uncover. When I began this research ten years ago, I knew it was important but could not anticipate how successful it would be. That element of discovery is why I enjoy chemical research.”
The Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research
The Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research was established by The Welch Foundation to honor Norman Hackerman, who served as the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board chair from 1982 to 2006. The award recognizes the accomplishments of chemical scientists in Texas who are early in their careers and dedicated to increasing our fundamental understanding of chemistry. Upon accepting the award, Dr. Dodani will receive $100,000, as well as a bronze sculpture to commemorate the occasion.
Since 1954, the Houston-based Welch Foundation has contributed over $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry through individual research grants, departmental research and equipment grants, endowed chairs, program grants, collaborative pilot grants and support for other chemistry-related programs in Texas. For more information about the Foundation and a list of previous Hackerman Award recipients, please visit www.welch1.org.
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Media Contact:
Carla Atmar
Director of Grant Programs
The Welch Foundation
atmar@welch1.org
Written by Veronica Tremblay, Science Writer, Editor & Research Communications Consultant