NSM Pride: Awards and Honors
Share News of Your Achievements
NSM is proud of the achievements of our outstanding alumni, students, staff and faculty. Submit news of your awards, new jobs and honors to uhnsm@uh.edu or contact Kristoffer Smith at ksmith46@central.uh.edu or 713-743-5643.
Alumni
Jose Daniel Velazco-Garcia (Ph.D. ’21, Computer Science), Principal Investigator at Houston-based Tietronix Software Inc., is leading a $1.2 million NASA-funded project to revolutionize astronaut training and medical procedures using immersive extended reality (XR) technology. The project, titled “Shared Immersive XR Hyper-Realistic Environment for Extravehicular Activity Surface Operations,” builds on Velazco-Garcia’s doctoral research at UH, where he was co-mentored by professors Nikolaos Tsekos and Ernst Leiss. NASA’s funding includes $325,000 to UH for its role as an academic partner. The team’s AR/VR tools are designed to prepare astronauts for lunar and Martian missions by simulating high-risk space operations in a safe, controlled environment. Velazco-Garcia and Tsekos are also adapting this technology to train medical professionals for complex interventional and surgical procedures, enhancing safety and outcomes for patients worldwide.
Bernard Harris (B.S. ’78, Biology), a physician, astronaut and entrepreneur, will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 31, 2025, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Harris, a trailblazer in space exploration, became the first African American to walk in space during his second mission, STS-63, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1995. Over his NASA career, Harris logged 437 hours in space and traveled more than 7 million miles, contributing to medical innovations that are still in use on spacecraft today. Following his NASA service, he founded Vesalius Ventures, investing in medical technologies, and established The Harris Foundation, a Houston-based nonprofit that empowers disadvantaged students to pursue their dreams in science and education.
Students
Galina Aglyamova (Biology Ph.D. student) received a National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship to support her research on the development of coloration and patterning in poison frogs. Her work examines environmental and genetic factors influencing how these amphibians use bright coloration to warn predators. Aglyamova, mentored by Assistant Professor Adam Stuckert, is also expanding her research to include aposematic salamanders, comparing their color gene expression to tropical frogs. Her findings could provide insights into human skin biology and related medical conditions.
Lorissa Saiz (Biology Ph.D. student), Gustavo Valdivia (Physics Ph.D. student), and Pablo Lopez-Duque (Physics Ph.D. student) were awarded the Lydia Mendoza Fellowship from UH’s Center for Mexican American and Latino/a Studies for their efforts to bring representation, mentorship, and outreach to the Latino community in STEM fields. Saiz, president of the UH SACNAS chapter, advocates for diversity in STEM education. Valdivia supports international students in physics research, and Lopez-Duque has dedicated time to mentoring young students interested in quantum science.
Larry Guan (Physics Ph.D. student) led a groundbreaking study on Mars’ radiant energy budget (REB), published in AGU Advances, providing the first-ever meridional REB profile for the planet. The research, advised by Professors Liming Li (Physics) and Xun Jiang (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences), uncovers key differences between Mars and Earth’s atmospheric energy balance, offering new insights into Martian weather patterns and potential long-term climate changes.
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) - UH Chapter received the 2024 Outstanding Chapter Leadership in Science Award at the national SACNAS conference in Phoenix. This marks the third consecutive national recognition for the chapter, honoring its mentorship of first-generation STEM students, professional development programming, and community outreach efforts across Houston schools. The chapter is advised by faculty members Ricardo Azevedo, Greg Morrison, Martin Núñez, Tony Frankino, and Amy Sater, with Lorissa Saiz serving as president.
Cole Woody (Biology sophomore) became the first UH sophomore to earn a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for undergraduate STEM students. Mentored by Dr. Preethi Gunaratne, Woody developed the MHCole bioinformatics pipeline to predict cancer-specific peptide targets for personalized vaccines. He also conducts research at MD Anderson Cancer Center and has been accepted into Harvard/MIT’s MD-PhD HEART program to further his studies in immuno-oncology.
Muhammad Arslan (Chemistry Ph.D. student) received the Spring 2025 ACS POLY Graduate Student Travel Award, becoming the first UH student to earn this honor since its inception in 2005. The award supported his presentation on polyolefin chemistry and catalyst design at the ACS National Meeting in San Diego, recognizing his contributions to advancing polymer science research under the mentorship of Professor Eva Harth.
Undergraduate students in the NASA Undergraduate Student Instrument Project (USIP) designed and launched scientific experiments into the auroral zone in Alaska as part of NASA’s nationwide program fostering hands-on space science experience. The multidisciplinary UH team, mentored by Professors Edgar Bering and Andrew Renshaw, integrated physics, engineering, and earth science to study atmospheric processes. The next cohort, USIP VII, will prepare for a 2027 Alaska launch.
Prize winners at the 60th Texas Center for Superconductivity (TcSUH) Student Research Symposium were announced on May 2, 2025:
- First Prize ($600): Sudaice Kazibwe (Physics, Liangzi Deng, advisor) - Research on megabar pressure effects in superconducting cuprates.
- Second Prizes ($300): Ange Benise Niyikiza (Physics, Zhifeng Ren, advisor) - Synthesis and characterization of boron arsenide crystals. FNU Vidhi (Physics, Shuo Chen, advisor) - Enhancing oxygen evolution performance via leaching-induced reconstruction of electrocatalysts.
- Third Prizes ($200): Arman Karimaghaei (Chemistry undergraduate, Jakoah Brgoch, advisor), Asim Khan (Chemistry Ph.D., Arnold Guloy and Allan Jacobson, advisors), and Iqra Zahid (Physics Ph.D., Paul C. W. Chu, advisor) for their research on novel materials and high-pressure effects on thin films.
Vuong Dustin Nguyen (Computer Science Ph.D. ’25) received the Dan E. Wells Outstanding Dissertation Award for his doctoral research on machine learning methods for robust person re-identification under changing appearances and visual obstructions. Mentored by Professor Shishir Shah, Nguyen’s work advances AI for forensic and surveillance applications. He will join Autodesk’s AI Lab as a research scientist.
Yang Lu (Computer Science Ph.D. student) earned second place in the Student Research Competition at the 40th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing in Catania, Sicily, for her AI-driven log analysis project LogSage. Her research aims to improve cybersecurity anomaly detection using large language models. Lu’s participation was supported by the NSM Graduate Student Conference Travel Award.
Brandon Than (Biology sophomore) received multiple honors, including the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, American Heart Association UH-HEART Fellowship, UH Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship, and UH STEM RISE Fellowship. At the UH Sequencing Core, he researches gene fusion mutations in breast cancer to develop personalized cancer vaccines. His community service efforts include leading STEM mentorship programs for underserved middle school students and developing health initiatives for refugee families in Houston.
Faculty/Staff
Brandee Carlson (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) and Julia Wellner (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) are leading groundbreaking climate research at opposite ends of the globe. Carlson is investigating glacial and geomorphological changes in Greenland, while Wellner’s Antarctic fieldwork focuses on understanding ice sheet dynamics at Thwaites Glacier, one of the most critical regions influencing global sea level rise. Their research advances knowledge of Earth’s changing climate systems and informs future environmental policy.
Donna Stokes (Physics) was recognized by the White House with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), the nation’s highest honor for mentoring in STEM disciplines. A longtime UH faculty member and advocate for STEM education, Stokes has dedicated her career to supporting students, junior faculty, and future science educators. She also plays a pivotal role in preparing STEM teachers through her work with teachHouston.
Aibing Li (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) co-authored a study proposing that the Great Lakes began forming hundreds of millions of years ago due to a mantle hotspot beneath the ancient supercontinent Pangaea. This research challenges long-held theories that the lakes formed primarily during the ice age, offering new insights into hotspot-continent interactions and North America’s geological history.
Liangzi Deng (Physics) and Paul C. W. Chu (Physics) achieved a breakthrough in superconductivity research, stabilizing high-pressure-induced superconducting states at ambient pressure for the first time. Their work, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, opens new pathways for developing high-temperature superconductors that could revolutionize energy transmission and storage technologies.
Mini Das (Physics, Biomedical Engineering) developed advanced photon counting detectors for 3D medical imaging, enabling faster and more accurate diagnostics by capturing X-rays at multiple energy levels. Her team’s research, published in Journal of Medical Imaging, paves the way for improved cancer detection and has potential applications in medical, industrial, and geophysical imaging.
Claudia Ratti (Physics), M.D. Anderson Professor, secured $2.5 million in research funding from NSF, NASA, and DOE to advance nuclear physics research on matter under extreme temperatures and densities. Ratti’s work explores the transition of protons and neutrons to quarks and gluons and investigates the internal composition of neutron stars. Her research group trains the next generation of nuclear physicists through mentorship and outreach programs.
Rene Bellwied (Physics) and colleagues in UH’s ALICE research team received the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, one of the field’s most prestigious awards, for their contributions to CERN’s ALICE experiment. Their research provided groundbreaking insights into the strong force and conditions of the early universe through high-energy heavy-ion collision studies.
Jiaxuan Li (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) published a landmark study in Science showcasing a new fiber-optic geodesy technique for real-time volcanic monitoring. Li’s work in Iceland demonstrated the ability to detect underground magma movement minutes before eruptions occur, improving hazard warnings and offering a cost-effective approach to global volcanic monitoring using existing fiber-optic infrastructure.
Demetrio Labate (Mathematics), along with graduate students Michela Marini and Heng Zhao, collaborated with the University of Cincinnati to develop a machine learning model mapping astrocyte brain cell changes during heroin exposure, withdrawal, and relapse. Their study, published in Science Advances, offers new understanding of addiction’s neurological effects and opens potential avenues for treatment.
Claudia Ratti (Physics) and UH postdoctoral researcher Gregoire Pihan (Physics) helped organize the 2025 Pint of Science Festival in Houston, part of an international initiative bringing scientific research to the public in informal settings. The three-night event featured UH faculty and alumni discussing topics from quantum physics to environmental solutions, fostering community engagement with cutting-edge science.
Chandra Mohan (Biomedical Engineering) and Weiyi Peng (Biology & Biochemistry) secured a $3 million CPRIT grant to establish the Cancer Immunotherapy Biomarker Core (CIBC) at UH’s Drug Discovery Institute. This state-of-the-art facility will provide Texas researchers with access to advanced targeted proteomics for discovering new cancer biomarkers and improving immunotherapy treatment strategies.
Ioannis Kakadiaris (Computer Science) received a $300,000 USDA-funded award to develop an AI-powered dashboard to improve emergency food distribution after natural disasters. The project builds on lessons from Hurricane Harvey and aims to optimize resource delivery to vulnerable families following crises such as hurricanes and wildfires.
Mark Meier (Physics) won first place in UH Technology Bridge’s Innov8 Hub Pitch Day competition for his startup Seismonics LLC, which is developing a low-frequency seismic exploration tool to help upstream energy companies reduce the cost and risk of drilling by improving subsurface imaging capabilities.
NSM Career Center, led by Director Dawnelle Prince, was highlighted by the Houston Business Journal for its innovative, student-driven approach to connecting STEM students with local employers. The center’s programs, including Tech Talks, career fairs, and real-world challenge teams, are strengthening Houston’s STEM workforce pipeline and creating tailored opportunities for NSM’s 6,000+ students.
Leon Thomsen (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) holds the record for the most-cited paper in geophysics with his 1986 publication, Weak Seismic Anisotropy, which has been cited 6,435 times according to June 2025 Google Scholar data. The paper introduced a practical framework for understanding weak anisotropy in subsurface materials, providing a foundation for detecting fractured reservoirs and advancing seismic exploration in the oil and gas industry. Thomsen, who joined UH as a research professor in 2008, continues to contribute to the field through research on anisotropy and poroelasticity and through mentorship of students and industry professionals.
Martín Núñez (Biology and Biochemistry) has authored A Pocket Guide to Scientific Writing and Publishing, set for publication in August. Drawing on two decades of research, publishing, and mentoring, Núñez’s guide offers practical, accessible strategies to help students and early-career scientists navigate the writing and publishing process—from drafting and submission to peer review and revision. The book is designed to demystify academic publishing, providing tools to build confidence and clarity in scientific.
Gopal Pandurangan (Computer Science) received the Best Paper Award at the 44th Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC 2025). His coauthored paper, “Improved Byzantine Agreement under an Adaptive Adversary,” advances solutions for achieving secure consensus in distributed networks—critical for blockchain, financial systems, and other security-sensitive applications. This marks Pandurangan’s first PODC award in more than 20 years of contributing to the prestigious conference.