Latinos are the largest and most rapidly expanding minority group in the U.S. Our latest brief describes the overall state of health and wellness among Latino children and the broader community — including indicators of obesity, mental health, and kindergarten readiness.
Sandra McKay, Christopher F. Kulesza, Katarina ReyesMarch 14, 2024
Synthetic biology is an emerging field with many possibilities to improve health, energy, the environment, and our food systems. This one-pager defines and describes what a synthetic biology project could look like.
Alicia L. Johnson, Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Caroline SniderDecember 15, 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a gap in our ability to track and stop the spread of infectious diseases. With funding from the National Science Foundation, a Rice University research team is engineering bacteria to sustainably and continuously monitor wastewater for viruses.
Alicia L. Johnson, Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Caroline SniderNovember 1, 2023
Six years after Hurricane Harvey deluged the Texas Gulf Coast, how exposed are Houston and Harris County to flooding risk? Jim Blackburn and Jennifer Borski examine key challenges and changes needed going forward.
Some court losses turn into wins. This paper explores two Texas coast cases with wider environmental implications for any community concerned about flood control, water recycling or endangered species.
Vaccination policies are a cornerstone of public health, but anti-vaccine activists have been adamantly pushing for legislation that would weaken and dismantle the public health infrastructure, the authors write. In this issue brief, they examine vaccine policy challenges leading up to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the future of vaccine legislation in Texas and the United States.
The authors identify key themes that emerged from anti-vaccine testimonies during the 2021 Texas legislative session and consider the implications of these discussions as the next legislative session draws near.
There have been promising developments in recent years in the fight to reduce overdose deaths. But barriers to drug checking and other overdose prevention tools remain throughout the country, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris.
Although Texans broadly support relaxing cannabis laws and other criminal justice reforms, state leaders continue the war on drugs and other policies that propagate systemic racism, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris.