Perry's staff drafts plan for state pensions and endowments to invest in startup companies based on university research.
By Robert Elder - Austin American-Statesman 29-Jan-2008
Gov. Rick Perry's staff has written a draft plan for state pensions and endowments to invest in startup companies that are based on university research. If enacted, the plan would be a major shift in strategy for public funds in Texas, which have generally shunned targeted investments based on narrow economic or social interests. The idea for public fund investment came in a November memorandum that urged the creation of a statewide commercialization institute to help build businesses from campus research. The institute would supplement existing efforts by university systems to commercialize their technology. The memo by Alan Kirchhoff, an official in the governor's economic development and tourism division, says university-bred startups need to attract more interest from venture capitalists and other investors such as pension funds. See complete article.
University of Texas researchers to study oil, gas production boosts
Austin Business Journal 15 Jan 2008
The University of Texas is launching the Advanced Energy Consortium, a multimillion-dollar research consortium aimed at increasing oil and gas production. The consortium's research will focus on developing micro and nanotechnology applications to boost oil and gas production. AEC is part of UT's Bureau of Economic Geology at the Jackson School of Geosciences and will be a collaborative technical partner with The Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University. The goal is to develop advanced technology that will boost the recovery of hydrocarbon resources in a way that minimizes damage to the environment, according to the university. See complete article.
UT Southwestern finds drug to prevent HIV's spread in mice
By Sue Goetinck Ambrose And Sherry Jacobson
Dallas Morning News - 15 Jan 2008
After 25 years of researchers around the globe being confounded by HIV, scientists in Dallas have shown that the virus's transmission can be stopped with medications. The scientific first, though performed only in lab mice, bodes well for a future when people at high risk for HIV infection would have a convenient way to protect themselves from the virus. Even though the experiment – which involves two commonly prescribed drugs for AIDS – could represent a breakthrough in AIDS prevention, experts who have long advocated safe-sex practices are worried that people will seek these drugs without waiting for scientific proof from human studies. See complete article.
U.S., China Establish Joint Trenchless Research Center
Underground Infrastructure Management 09 Jan 2008
The China-U.S. Joint Center for Trenchless Research and Development was formally established Oct. 10 during a U.S.-China Workshop on Trenchless Technology and Critical Underground Infrastructure...See complete article.
New Study Will Explore Brains Connection
Dental Plans 09 Jan 2008
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - HOUSTON In the middle of the night, as you hear the buzzing of a mosquito, your skin begins to prickle, anticipating that the annoying insect is about to light on you.... See complete article.
UTEP students to carry on trip's lessons
El Paso Times 08 Jan 2008
After spending 76 hours traveling from the bottom of the earth to El Paso, 16 students and four faculty members from the University of Texas at El Paso have seen it all.'We saw about 10,000...See complete article.
Longs donate $25 million to UT Health Science Center
By W. Scott Bailey San Antonio Business Journal 07 Jan 2008
Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long of Austin have donated $25 million to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The gift, according to Health Science Center President Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, will establish permanent endowments toward scholarships for students, faculty recruitment and retention, and research of diabetes and other diseases most affecting South Texans. The cash gift from the Longs matches the largest single gift in Health Science Center history and is one of the largest single gifts in the history of the University of Texas System. It will establish the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Scholarship, Research and Teaching Fund. "This gift so beautifully demonstrates Joe and Terry's love for their native Texas and their belief that they have been blessed," Cigarroa says. "They are committed to leaving the state a better place." See complete article.
Scientist captures images of life's essence
By Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle - 7 Jan 2008
For the first time, scientists have captured detailed images of life's essence. The dazzling pictures reveal a key step in the process of cell division, which all organisms must undergo to survive. The moment occurs deep within a cell, as two proteins work in concert to unzip a strand of DNA to create two new cells. But until now, scientists seeking to directly observe this essential process only could view fuzzy images taken by an electron microscope. A scientist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has changed that by perfecting a technique employed by biophysicist Rosalind Franklin more than half a century ago to gather the first images of DNA. See complete article.
UT professor receives $2.1M in grants
Austin Business Journal 03 Jan 2008
A University of Texas professor has received two grants totalling $2.1 million from the National Institutes of Health to study nerve repair mechanisms. Adela Ben-Yakar, assistant professor of...See complete article.
UTSA awarded $6.4 million for local cybersecurity program
San Antonio Business Journal - 2 Jan 2008
Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, was in San Antonio Wednesday alongside U.S. Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez to announce a $6.4 million award to the University of Texas at San Antonio. The multimillion-dollar award will go toward the UTSA cybersecurity program. The Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) is the research and operational component of the Information Assurance program at the university. The National Security Agency has designated UTSA a National Center of Excellence in Information Assurance. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson also will visit the San Antonio-Bexar County Emergency Operations Center at Brooks City-Base. See complete article.
