The Welch Foundation Announces WelchX Pilot, Catalyst for Discovery Program and Postdoctoral Fellows Grant Recipients
New programs work to further the Foundation’s mission and attract top research talent to Texas
Houston, TX – August 1, 2024 – The Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s largest sources of private funding for basic chemical research, today announced recipients for three of its grant programs: the Welch eXperimental (WelchX) Collaboration Retreat and Pilot Grants, the Catalyst for Discovery Program Grants, and the Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation Grants.
“We are more excited than ever to see the strides being made by our awardees as our new grant programs enter their sophomore years.” said Adam Kuspa, President of The Welch Foundation. “The Foundation continues to receive outstanding applications from dedicated researchers across Texas who share our goal of advancing chemistry to improve life throughout the world.”
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, 26 researchers gathered in Austin to explore this year’s theme, Chemistry of Life. Participants were invited to develop the collaborative concepts they designed at the retreat into proposals for consideration as one of five $100,000 WelchX Pilot Grants. This year’s recipients are:
• Ilya Finklestein, The University of Texas at Austin and Zhao Wang, Baylor College of Medicine, “Mapping Sub-Cellular Genotype-Phenotype Relationships with Correlated Spatial Sequencing and Electron Cryo-Tomography”
• Anna Konovalova, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Tian Qin, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, “Cost-Effective Tool for Bacterial Reverse Vaccinology”.
• Stanton McHardy, The University of Texas at San Antonio and Jonathan Sczepanski, Texas A&M University “Development of PROTACS with Programable Oligonucleotide-Based Linkers”.
• Joshua Tropp, Texas Tech University, Ben Keitz, The University of Texas at Austin, and Melissa Zastrow, University of Houston, “Unraveling the Role of Iron in the Gut Microbiome using Iron-Selective Organic Electrochemical Transistors”.
• Lauren Webb, The University of Texas at Austin, Sheena D’Arcy, The University of Texas at Dallas, and Hao Yan, University of North Texas, “Molecular Mechanisms of Life in the Deep Sea: Understanding Protein-Lipid Structures and Dynamics at High Pressure”.
CATALYST FOR DISCOVERY PROGRAM GRANTS
The Catalyst for Discovery Program Grants serve to accelerate progress in fundamental chemical research. Two grants of up to five million dollars each are awarded annually to highly meritorious proposals aimed at significant problems at the leading edge of chemistry. The level of support is calibrated to reduce barriers to discovery and provide flexibility in the manner of experimentation with minimal administrative burden. This year’s grant recipients are:
• Damian Young, Baylor College of Medicine, “Innovation in DNA-Encoded Chemistry Technology to Enable More Effective Ligand Discovery”.
• Yi Lu, The University of Texas at Austin, “Artificial Dinitrogen Transferases: Leveraging Bio-Inspired Nitrogen Fixation to Directly Transfer N2 into Organic Molecules”.
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS OF THE LIFE SCIENCES RESEARCH FOUNDATION 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:
• Kayla Goforth, Texas A&M University
• Bradley Ganoe, Rice University
• Ziyi Zhang, The University of Texas at Austin
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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