Richard Willson

Dr. Richard Willson is the Huffington-Woestemeyer Professor in the William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering. He also holds a joint appointment as Professor of Biochemical & Biophysical Sciences and serves as Director of the UH Drug Discovery Institute. His research focuses on diagnostic technologies, protein engineering, and translational biomedical applications. Dr. Willson has expertise in lateral flow assays, biomarker detection, and nanoparticle-based sensing systems.

Education: Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from MIT (1988), M.S. and B.S. from Caltech (1982, 1981 with honors). His work spans interdisciplinary areas including analytical chemistry, nanotechnology, and medical device development. Recent research emphasizes rapid point-of-care diagnostics for infectious diseases and cancer biomarkers, with a focus on integrating smartphone-read platforms and novel reporter systems.

Key projects include developing multiplex assays for breast implant-associated lymphoma detection and creating portable systems for lupus nephritis monitoring. The Drug Discovery Institute under his leadership focuses on translating chemical and biomolecular innovations into clinical applications. His lab has pioneered technologies like glowstick-inspired reporters and nanophosphor-based immunoassays.

Grant funding includes NIH SBIR/STTR awards for pediatric medical device development, emphasizing non-dilutive funding pathways. Dr. Willson collaborates across disciplines to advance diagnostics, bioprocessing, and therapeutic delivery, with over 200 peer-reviewed publications and numerous patents.