Texas should do more to become a national leader in scientific research

Historically, accolades and attention for major scientific research have gone to the two coasts in the U.S., with big-name universities on the East Coast and federal research labs on the West Coast attracting the funding and resources.

But Texas is emerging as the Third Coast of research and innovation.

University of Texas at Austin researchers have found a way to potentially double the bandwidth that is usable in wireless communications, a likely telecommunications breakthrough.

Jim Allison’s work in immunology at MD Anderson, recognized this year with a Lasker Award, found that our own immune systems can be used to fight cancer.

And thanks to Nobel Laureates Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown at the UT Southwestern Medical Center, we know more about the genetic factors causing heart disease and the best way to target them.

Scientific discovery in Texas wouldn’t be possible without state and federal support.

The state-funded Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has awarded over a billion dollars in grants, helping to recruit some of the world’s top cancer researchers.

In 2011, our organization, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas, gained a record number of new members, many through grants for recruiting top cancer researchers to Texas’ research and treatment centers.

But the Lone Star State faces serious challenges in becoming a top-tier research destination.

We’re paying to educate our students here, only to have them move to other states for college.

Texas loses a net of more than 8,600 graduating high school students each year, making it the fourth-worst state for “brain drain.”

Our state has just three Tier One universities, schools that make substantial investments in research, have faculty that are Nobel laureates or members of the National academies and award a large number of doctorate degrees.

California has nine Tier One schools. New York has six.

And Texas is a low-performing state when it comes to attracting venture capital, falling well behind California, Massachusetts and New York.

In order to have more top-tier universities, higher education in Texas will need more support, funding and capacity.

The state Legislature passed a bill in 2009 to help seven state universities achieve Tier One status. More steps will be necessary.

This year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law the Governor’s University Research Initiative, which will help recruit Nobel laureates and national academies members to come to Texas for their work.

And this fall, our organization convened a new summit to help make Texas research institutions more competitive in seeking federal funding for research. This would lead to increased job growth and stronger research programs at major academic and industrial institutions.

While Texas has proven itself a leader in science and innovation, competition for research funding is unrelenting.

To continue its forward momentum, Texas will need to do a better job of cultivating a top-tier research environment, where the world’s brightest can do their best work.

This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Texas should do more to become a national leader in scientific research."