Fall 2025
By Katharine Shilcutt

Rice’s proximity to the world’s largest medical center — directly across Main Street from its oak-lined campus — means the opportunity to collaborate with leading institutions such as the The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Children’s Hospital. But these partnerships aren’t forged overnight; they take dedicated work from offices such as Rice’s Educational and Research Initiatives for Collaborative Health.
 

Established in 2016, the ENRICH office serves as a bridge between Rice and the health-related institutions of the Texas Medical Center, providing service and support to Rice faculty across all disciplines and guiding them in building formal relationships with TMC specialists. ENRICH also collaborates closely with Rice institutes, centers, initiatives and executive leadership, providing engagement and support to advance research. The office also works to facilitate the placement of Rice postdoctoral scholars, undergraduate and graduate students in the TMC for research and educational opportunities.

Since 2019, ENRICH has provided $1.9 million in joint seed funding with the TMC, supporting over 50 research projects in fields such as bioengineering, cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, cardiovascular health, neuroscience, behavioral health, general surgery, robotics, imaging and nursing. Partner institutions — including Houston Methodist, Baylor College of Medicine, MD Anderson and UTHealth — have matched these funds, bringing the total impact to $3.8 million.