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.

Doctoral student Megan Ketchum received the Best Presentation Award of the “Chemical Engineers in Medicine” session at the 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting held in Salt Lake City, UT last November.

Last week, a chemical and biomolecular engineering Ph.D. student from the Cullen College of Engineering was awarded best poster at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research in Pasadena, Calif.

This month, Dean Joseph Tedesco announced the 2013 winners of the UH Cullen College of Engineering faculty awards, in recognition of outstanding performance in teaching, research and service.

Thanks to a recent grant from NASA, a University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering professor’s theories on crystal formation will be tested onboard the International Space Station.

Malaria has been one of the world’s biggest killers for as long as records have been kept (and almost certainly longer). According to the World Health Organization, in 2008 alone the disease claimed approximately 881,000 lives, making it responsible for approximately 1.5% of all deaths worldwide. That year it was responsible for more than 5.2% of all deaths in low-income countries and a startling 20% of childhood deaths in Africa.

UH was one of 24 institutions that received money from the Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program in April.

A competitive, peer-reviewed grant program funding science and engineering research projects by faculty members at Texas higher education institutions, more than $15 million was given out this year.

Discovery of insulin-production method could impact multiple fields

Researchers with the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering have made a major discovery in the field of diabetes research that is also an historic find in the area crystal formation and use.

Peter Vekilov, associate professor of chemical engineering, and doctoral candidate Dimitra Georgiou, discovered a new mechanism for the formation of insulin crystals in the pancreas.

The Biomedical Engineering Program, which was launched last fall by the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, is quickly attaining a full staff with director Matt Franchek naming Ralph Metcalfe and Peter Vekilov as deputy directors for the program. Franchek, who has been recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineering Dynamic Systems and funded by the National Science Foundation, serves as the mechanical engineering chairman.