The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston recently announced that a 13-year-old student was selected for presentation at the 2025 UT System AI Symposium, a conference designed for advanced researchers, graduate students, and medical professionals.
Despite having no formal training, Myreen taught herself to use professional platforms like HDOCK and PLIP through tutorials, reading scientific papers, and experimenting with public datasets.
Earlier this year, she took second place at the 2025 Texas Science and Engineering Fair.
Her work stood out among middle school and high school competitors, earning her the opportunity to represent Texas this fall at one of the nation’s most prestigious STEM competitions.
The Texas A&M University Health Science Center recently announced that Texas A&M Health has received $11.7 million in new funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
This funding will be used to recruit top talent in cancer genomics, establish a drug discovery resource center, and reinstate cancer prevention programs for rural, underserved women.
Additionally, it will support groundbreaking immunotherapy research, helping to transition findings from the lab to the community and ultimately changing the narrative surrounding cancer.
In another development, the UTRGV Division of Research announced a $2.8 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to establish the Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine Core.
This specialized research facility is dedicated to advancing cancer research, education, and care through the application of nanotechnology.
The core began operations on June 1 and is located within the university’s South Texas Center of Excellence in Cancer Research.
It is the first facility of its kind within a 250-mile radius and does not duplicate any existing core facility in Texas.
Additionally, Jennifer Gomez Pastora, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas Tech University, has received a $200,000 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
This two-year grant supports her innovative research on breast cancer, specifically targeting cancer stem-like cells, a rare and treatment-resistant subpopulation of tumor cells that drive metastasis and recurrence.
Dr. Gomez-Pastora’s lab is pioneering a novel method for isolating cancer stem-like cells based on their iron metabolism rather than using traditional surface markers.
Meanwhile, the Texas Southern University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences announced that, thanks to Dr. Veronica Ajewole-Mwema and her team for their commitment to fostering healthier communities, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has awarded the Texas Southern University Breast Cancer Screening and Prevention Center a $2 million grant for academic research.
This funding will expand the center’s screening, diagnostics, and education efforts, which began with a $1 million grant in 2021, providing mammography services to over 1,400 women across five counties.
With this new grant, the center aims to increase that number to 2,400 women across nine counties.
Wow! 13 year-old Myreen Ahsan presented her research on neuroscience, AI, and brain cancer at our recent AI Symposium. She's self-taught, driven, and already contributing to the field. @UTHealthHouston has more. https://t.co/kAN7vNa5lA pic.twitter.com/EplxObt1AG
— The University of Texas System (@utsystem) June 18, 2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been tasked with…
Brown and Caldwell, a leading environmental engineering and construction firm,…
Humboldt State University, one of four campuses within the California…
