Wins National Award to Further Research

With a perfect score on his research proposal, chemical and biomolecular engineering researcher Mehmet Orman received the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Career Transition Award, meant to help initiate a successful bioengineering career as an independent research scientist. Orman will use the $250,000 prize to investigate cells that are resistant to antibiotics.

Researchers Say Emerging Technologies Could Greatly Reduce Plastic Waste

Most of the 150 million tons of plastics produced around the world every year end up in landfills, the oceans and elsewhere. Less than 9 percent of plastics are recycled in the United States, rising to about 30 percent in Europe.

A team of researchers led by a UH chemical and biomolecular engineer will design microorganisms that can convert natural gas liquids (NGLs) into useful products more efficiently than current technologies.

For UH chemical engineer Navin Varadarajan, it isn’t enough to conduct laboratory research, publish papers, earn grants and win awards for his work in immunotherapy, which utilizes the body’s own immune cells to attack tumors.

UH-Led Team is Developing Next-Generation Catalytic Technology to Cut Emissions

Almost 160 years after the invention of the internal combustion engine, a new type of engine – operating at low-temperature, allowing it to consume less fuel – offers promise for the transportation industry as it plans for the future.

In 2015 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Chinese scientist Youyou Tu for her discovery of a novel malaria treatment rooted in traditional Chinese medicine. Tu isolated the drug artemisinin from an herb used to treat malaria in China for more than 2,000 years.

Researchers have found evidence that a natural fruit extract is capable of dissolving calcium oxalate crystals, the most common component of human kidney stones. This finding could lead to the first advance in the treatment of calcium oxalate stones in 30 years.

Finding improved methods for drug delivery is a hot topic among researchers all over the world. One method in particular, which utilizes polymeric micelles to carry and deliver drug molecules to their intended targets inside of the body, has had very promising results in recent years.

This month, four UH Cullen College of Engineering professors earned a four-year grant amounting to almost $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation to pursue their nanopatterning discovery that could lead to next-generation transistors for integrated circuitry, among other advanced nanodevices.