Winners of the 2026 Hill Prizes announced

Dallas, TX – TAMEST (Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology) and Lyda Hill Philanthropies today announced the recipients of the 2026 Hill Prizes, which support high-risk, high-reward research with strong potential for real-world impact. Funded by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, the prizes provide seed funding to advance paradigm-shifting ideas and position Texas as a global leader in innovation.

The 2026 Hill Prizes will be awarded in seven categories: artificial intelligence, biological sciences, engineering, medicine, physical sciences, public health and technology. This is the first year the program includes a Prize in Artificial Intelligence. Each recipient’s institution will receive $500,000 in direct funding, and Lyda Hill Philanthropies has also committed at least $1 million in additional discretionary funding for highly ranked proposals not selected as recipients.

Recipients were selected by a committee of TAMEST members and endorsed by Texas Nobel and Breakthrough Prize laureates, with final approval by the TAMEST Board of Directors. Principal Investigators will be recognized on February 2, 2026, at the opening reception of the TAMEST 2026 Annual Conference in San Antonio.

The 2026 Hill Prizes recipients are Kristen Grauman of The University of Texas at Austin in Artificial Intelligence; Susan M. Rosenberg of Baylor College of Medicine in Biological Sciences; Naomi J. Halas, Peter J. A. Nordlander and Hossein Robatjazi of Rice University and Syzygy Plasmonics in Engineering; Raghu Kalluri of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Medicine; Karen L. Wooley and Matthew Stone of Texas A&M University and Teysha Technologies in Physical Sciences; Elizabeth C. Matsui of Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas at Austin in Public Health; and Kurt W. Swogger, Clive Bosnyak and August Krupp of Molecular Rebar Design in Technology.

Together, the selected projects address critical challenges ranging from antibiotic resistance and vision loss to climate-related health risks, sustainable manufacturing and safer industrial materials through collaborative, cross-disciplinary research.

Applications for the 2027 Hill Prizes will open May 1, 2026, and close June 1, 2026. More information is available at www.tamest.org/hill-prizes.