Feb. 18 Research Bulletin (Texas A&M University)

How to Submit an Item to Research Bulletin

Send: Research-related news about Texas A&M faculty, staff or students at our colleges, schools or member agencies, including honors, publications, presentations and appearances in news media.
Note: The Research Bulletin does not publish links to scholarly or peer-reviewed journal articles. If your work appears in a journal, please first work with your college or school communications team to develop a news story, then submit the link to that story for inclusion.
Include: A URL that links directly to your news coverage, research story or professional achievement.
Email: rcomm@tamu.edu

News-Media Coverage

Fast Company, Sam Brody (Galveston) and Amy Waer (Medicine), about how the university’s interdisciplinary research, data-driven tools and preparedness-focused training are advancing disaster resilience, emergency response and community readiness in the face of increasing climate-related threats.

Homes.com, Yanling Mayer (Real Estate Research Center), about how the rapid expansion of master-planned communities on Greater Houston’s outskirts is reshaping regional housing markets, infrastructure demand, and long-term development patterns.

India Defense Review, Akhilesh Gaharwar and John Soukar (Engineering), about a newly identified treatment that can restore cellular energy production and reverse key markers of aging in cells, offering a potential pathway to improve health and resilience in aging tissues.

KBTX, Amy Earhart (Arts and Sciences), about research to reconstruct and contextualize the 1868 Millican Massacre, which uncovered overlooked historical records to better understand the racial violence that shook the small Texas town.

KERA News, Jenny Carroll (Law), about legal analysis explaining the constitutional, civil liberties and public safety concerns surrounding proposals for local police to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in immigration enforcement.

NPR, Keerti Rathore (Agriculture and Life Sciences), about the development of genetically modified cotton seeds with reduced gossypol levels to make them safe and affordable sources of protein for livestock and, potentially, humans.

The Conversation, William Baule (Arts and Sciences), about how a sixth consecutive year of drought in Texas and Oklahoma is straining rangelands, livestock production and rural economies, along with management strategies ranchers can use to reduce risk and adapt to increasingly severe dry conditions.

Articles From Colleges and Schools

Akhilesh Gaharwar, Duncan Maitland and Taylor Ware (Engineering) used clay to create injectable bandages that target deep internal bleeding and prolong the “golden hour” of injury. Stopping Fatal Blood Loss With Clay
Chenglin Wu (Engineering) and Jeffrey Cirillo (Medicine) developed a wearable biosensor that monitors oral health and helps detect long-term issues such as gum disease or tooth loss. New Biosensor Offers Early Warning System for Disease
David Threadgill (Agriculture and Life Sciences) was one of the driving forces behind the Life Sciences Graduate Recruitment Symposium, which highlighted Texas A&M’s interdisciplinary research strengths and human-health-focused training by connecting students with faculty, graduate programs and research opportunities across six premier life sciences disciplines. Life Sciences Symposium Connects Texas A&M Students With Graduate Pathways
Elena Andreyeva (Public Health) found that private insurers pay more for trauma injury care at hospitals designated as trauma centers due to higher costs from trauma activation fees, specialists available around the clock and the hospital’s ability to negotiate for higher prices. Trauma Center Designation Tied to Higher Insurance Payouts
Eman Hammad (Engineering) and Jaewon Kim (Global Cyber Research Institute), along with undergrad engineering students, developed advanced methods to make smart technologies more efficient, reliable and adaptive by improving how devices sense, process and respond to real-world data. Making Smart Tech Smarter
Guillermo Aguilar, Minghui Zheng, Xiao Liang (Engineering) and Jeffery Tomberlin (Agriculture and Life Sciences) combined black soldier fly larvae, sensor technology, robotics and artificial intelligence to develop systems that make extreme environments suitable for human habitation. Reclaiming Harsh Habitats With Black Soldier Fly Larvae
Heath Blackmon and Andrés Barboza (Arts and Sciences) developed and tested two models which simulate popular hypotheses on the evolution of achiasmy and found that the reasons for achiasmy change with a sex chromosome’s age, offering new insight into a long-standing biological mystery. New Strides in Solving the Mystery of the Absent Chromosomal Crossover
Jack Hettema and Brad Verhulst (Medicine) and their team identified 58 genetic variants linked to anxiety, helping scientists better understand the disorder and improve treatments. The Genetics of Anxiety: Landmark Study Highlights Risk and Resilience
Jessica Galloway-Peña (Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) found that prior antibiotic use can disrupt the gut microbiome in ways that reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy and worsen outcomes for patients with acute myeloid leukemia.Texas A&M Study Reveals How Antibiotic Use During Leukemia Treatment Reshapes the Gut Microbiome
Jodie Lutkenhaus (Engineering) and her team developed a battery that can withstand and function in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero, a significant step toward creating energy storage systems that remain reliable during extreme weather events. Building Batteries That Don’t Break in the Cold
Laurie Charles (Nursing) and team are building on decades of research at Texas A&M Health’s Center of Excellence in Forensic Nursing to integrate the latest science and evidence-based practices into trauma-informed care, after the U.S. Department of Justice selected the center to update the national Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program guide. U.S. Department of Justice Selects Center of Excellence in Forensic Nursing to Update National SANE Program Guide
Maria Miglietta (Galveston) studied the Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish and its process of regenerating itself through transdifferentiation. Immortal Jellyfish: The Science of Falling in Love Again
Paul Morley (Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) found that continuously feeding cattle tylosin in the finishing period significantly reduces the risk of liver abscesses, a costly challenge in the cattle feeding industry. Industry Partnership Drives Texas A&M Study on Tylosin Use and Liver Abscess Control
Scott Dindot (Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) spent more than 20 years developing a gene-targeting therapy, GTX-102 (apazunersen), to treat Angelman syndrome by restoring expression of the critical UBE3A gene, offering the first potential disease-modifying drug for this rare neurodevelopmental disorder. Texas A&M Researcher Devotes Career To Curing Genetic Disorder in Children
Seockmo Ku, Min Ji Jang and Sehyeon Song (Agriculture and Life Sciences) applied the kimchi fermentation process to Texas-grown cabbage and other greens to create foods with longer shelf life and strong market potential for farmers. Texas-Grown Cabbage Meets Global Tradition in Texas A&M Kimchi Research

Accomplishments

Andrew Kwok (Education and Human Development) was selected among 16 national faculty members for the 2026 Education Scholars Training Program that advances research-informed education policy and strengthens the connection between research and practice.

Andrew Moodie (Arts and Sciences) was one of eight fellows to receive the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program Early-Career Research Fellowship.

Brian King (Agriculture and Life Sciences) earned the University of Delaware’s Michael D. Olsen Research Achievement Award, which recognizes global hospitality and tourism scholarship impact.

Daniel Leskovar (Agriculture and Life Sciences) received a doctor honoris causa award from the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena in Spain.

I-Hong Hou (Engineering) was awarded the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Communications Society William R. Bennett Prize for his impactful information technology research.

Somjit Roy (Arts and Sciences) received the 2026 Student Paper Award from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Bayesian Statistical Science.

Thomas Blasingame (Engineering) and Karen Wooley (Arts and Sciences) were elected to the National Academy of Engineering Class of 2026, a prestigious honor that highlights their dedication to their students and research.

Funding

Beverly Irby, Rafael Lara-Alecio, Marcia Montague, Roya Pashmforoosh, Ramona Pittman and Fuhui Tong (Education and Human Development) received a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support a project titled, “Rural Opportunities Through Literacy, Observation, Tutoring and STEM (ROOTS).”

Emily Cantrell, Kacee Lambright, Debra McKeown, Karen Rambo-Hernandez, Ashley Stack and Kausalai Wijekumar (Education and Human Development) received a $13.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support a project titled, “Enable Middle-Graders With Powerful Reading Comprehension (EMPOWER).”

Robert Ambrose (Engineering) received a $2.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to support a project titled, “Robotic Mobility and Defense in Amphibious Environments.”

John Hamilton (Engineering) received a $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to support a project titled, “2025 Texas A&M DoD Cyber Service Academy and Capacity Building.”

Jyothi Menon (Engineering) received a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to support a project titled, “Multifunctional Nanoparticle Platform to Prevent Alcohol-Associated HCC Development.”

Erica Macon (Agriculture and Life Sciences) was awarded a Morris Animal Foundation Grant for the Macon Metabolic Equine Nutrition and Research Lab.

Professional Development

Research Development Services offers faculty development programs and research funding workshops to assist in the process of applying for grants.   

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) offers virtual workshops that meet the face-to-face requirements of University SAP 15.99.99.M0.04. Please note that it is the responsibility of each college or school (with support or information from individual principal investigators) to ensure that all student and postdoctoral researchers associated with them are compliant with the RCR training requirements.   

High Performance Research Computing offers an ongoing series of short training courses for beginning, intermediate and advanced researchers.   

University Libraries presents a series of online workshops in research-related subjects, such as managing citations, managing research data, searching databases and publishing and copyrighting.

Events

The College of Education and Human Development will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Voices of Impact (VOI) on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center’s Bethancourt Ballroom. The speaker series will feature 12 researchers sharing their expertise on issues impacting society today. This year’s topics include how to prepare future teachers to use AI, a solution to address the adult literacy crisis in Texas, a breakthrough in stem-cell therapeutics that could help with life-saving treatments, and more research from the College of Education and Human Development.

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