2022 Annual Report

Claudia Neuhauser Presiden't Cabinet portrait

Welcome to the 2022 Research and Innovation Annual Report. This report serves as a comprehensive overview of our research initiatives and achievements over the past year.

We are excited to share the significant progress made, with a special focus on our phased expansion of the University’s central core facilities. This transformative program aims to enhance our research capabilities by investing in state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge technologies. Through this expansion, we will provide our researchers with unparalleled resources to support their innovation, collaboration, and breakthrough discoveries at scale.

Join us as we delve into the remarkable achievements and impactful outcomes of our research community in 2022.

Claudia Neuhauser, Ph.D.
Interim Vice President for Research

Research By The Numbers

In fiscal year 2022, NSF-reported R&D expenditures rose 18% from the previous year. Proposal success rose six percent from the past year, reaching an eight-year high.

$240MResearch Expenditures
$705MTotal Funds Requested
$132MTotal Projected Award Amount
1,047Proposals Submitted
35%Proposals Awarded
363Number of Awards Received

Innovation By The Numbers

The University yet again reached all-time highs with an eight percent increase in licensing income. The number of issued patents doubled from the previous year.

$71M Licensing Income
62Disclosures
52Patents

2022: Year In Review

UH Population Health Launches to Advance Health Equity
Led by chief population health officer Bettina Beech, UH is addressing health disparities and costs through a comprehensive, University-wide approach.
Two Professors Secure ARPA-E Funding
Yan Yao received $3.4 million to develop a lithium and transition metal-free battery, and Harish Krishnamoorthy received $1 million to build a miniaturized pulsed power system architecture.
Examining Developmental Disabilities in African Children
Elena Grigorenko leads a 5-year project in rural Zambia studying children with disabilities, funded by a $3.3 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development.
Can Hyaluronan Cure Dry Eye Disease?
Vivien Coulson-Thomas receives $1.6 million National Eye Institute grant to study hyaluronan — a molecule known to protect and lubricate soft tissue— for dry eye disease.
Pioneering Imaging Techniques of Fetal Brain and Cornea
With a $3.2 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development, Kirill Larin and his team will develop a high-resolution imaging platform for in utero imaging of the fetal brain.
Fighting the Rising Tide of Opioid Addiction
Douglas Thornton leads the Prescription Drug Misuse Education and Research (PREMIER) Center in the UH College of Pharmacy, which has been funded for the next two years by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for an additional $3.34 million.
Pradeep Sharma Elected to the National Academy of Engineering
The academy noted his efforts in establishing the field of flexoelectricity, leading to the creation of new materials, devices and insights in biophysical phenomena.
Leon Thomsen Elected to the National Academy of Engineering
The academy praised Thomsen for his extraordinary “contributions to seismic anisotropy concepts that produced major advances in subsurface analysis.”
Six UH Professors Named Senior Members of National Academy of Inventors
Greg Cuny, Jeff Feng, James Flynn, Hadi Ghasemi, Luca Pollonini and Navin Varadarajan were given the prestigous designation.
Semiconductor Research Tops List of 2022 Breakthroughs
Physics World included the groundbreaking work of UH researchers Zhifeng Ren and Jiming Bao on its list of Top 10 breakthroughs of 2022 for demonstrating cubic boron arsenide as “one of best semiconductors known to science.”
Four from UH Named Most Cited in the World
The annual Clarivate list of Highly Cited Researchers includes global research and social scientists whose published academic papers rank in the top 1% of citations for field and publication year.

A Commitment to Core Facilities

In 2022, UH committed $22 million for new core facilities in five national priority research areas: Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Materials, Imaging and Scanning, Data and Sensing, and Automation and Autonomy. DOR launched phase one of the buildout with a new website and virtual cores in digital humanities, electron microscopy, and mass spectrometry.

Faculty Engagement

In 2022, DOR continued to engage faculty through the UH Research Forum with presentations on international research, team science and more. Special events focused on federal relations and data management. The Office of Contracts and Grants provided training on their comprehensive updates to functions in PeopleSoft Grants. These initiatives supported UH's research community and the mission of the DOR to serve and to lead.

Download the Report

Past Reports

Research By The Numbers

Innovation By The Numbers

2022: Year In Review

UH Population Health Launches to Advance Health Equity

Two Professors Secure ARPA-E Funding

Examining Developmental Disabilities in African Children

Can Hyaluronan Cure Dry Eye Disease?

Pioneering Imaging Techniques of Fetal Brain and Cornea

Fighting the Rising Tide of Opioid Addiction

Pradeep Sharma Elected to the National Academy of Engineering

Leon Thomsen Elected to the National Academy of Engineering

Six UH Professors Named Senior Members of National Academy of Inventors

Semiconductor Research Tops List of 2022 Breakthroughs

Four from UH Named Most Cited in the World

A Commitment to Core Facilities

Faculty Engagement