image: The Sontag award will support the development of CHAMELEON, an array of soft, sensor-laden brain implants meant to improve how clinicians monitor and treat glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of adult brain cancer.
Credit: (Photo courtesy of the Tringides lab/Rice University)
HOUSTON – (Dec. 4, 2025) – Rice University’s Christina Tringides has been named a Distinguished Scientist by the Sontag Foundation, a national recognition for early career researchers advancing transformative projects in brain cancer research.
Tringides, an assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing and a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar, studies and develops soft, tissuelike materials that feel and behave like the brain. The Sontag award will support the development of Conductive Hydrogel Arrays with Multiple ELEctrodes Optimized for Neurons, or CHAMELEON, an array of soft, sensor-laden brain implants meant to improve how clinicians monitor and treat glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of adult brain cancer.
“This is a very exciting project that I am very passionate about,” Tringides said. “I am incredibly happy to have this support from the Sontag Foundation and to join their research community.”
Under current care protocols for glioblastoma, patients typically undergo MRI scans every two months to check whether their tumor has returned after an initial removal surgery. Because this type of cancer grows quickly and is deeply intertwined with neuronal circuits, monitoring neural signals could detect signs of progression with greater precision than imaging alone. CHAMELEON is intended to track the disease from inside the brain in real time.
“My group works with hydrogels, very soft materials that match the properties of the brain exactly,” Tringides said. “Most existing implants are made from rigid materials like the ones used in regular electronics, which do not embed well with the brain and can cause tissue damage or stop working over time. Our goal is to develop implants that work seamlessly with the tissue.”
By embedding carbon nanomaterials such as nanotubes and graphene flakes into hydrogels, the Tringides lab creates soft, electrically conductive networks that can be patterned into flexible electrode arrays designed to drape over ⎯ or flow into ⎯ brain surfaces without injuring tissue or losing contact. The long-term vision goes beyond monitoring: Tringides and her team plan to attach drug-delivery nodes directly onto the individual electrodes, so clinicians can both sense and administer therapies using the same platform.
“The idea in this project is that we can implant our hydrogel-based array inside the tumor cavity and use the conductive electrodes to monitor electrical signals daily,” she said. “There are currently no devices that can be used in this way.”
Tringides noted that Houston’s clinical environment and Rice’s growing neuroscience ecosystem make CHAMELEON uniquely possible.
“One great thing about being in Houston specifically, across from the Texas Medical Center, is that we get to work closely with neurosurgeons and get valuable feedback that will allow us to perfect this technology,” Tringides said.
As part of the project, her lab will collaborate with clinicians who work with animal models of glioblastoma. Her team also uses hydrogel-based culture systems to grow glioblastoma cells in the lab, allowing them to validate their technology before moving into more complex models.
Tringides is a core member of the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative, and she said the university’s collaborative culture was central to her decision to join Rice.
“Between the nanomaterials on one side and the medical center on the other, Rice was a really great fit,” she said. “The neuroengineering community, the materials community, everyone on campus is very supportive ⎯ it is an ideal home base for this project.”
The recognition of Tringides’ work comes as Rice expands its footprint in brain science and brain health. The university recently launched the Rice Brain Institute, an interdisciplinary hub that unites engineering, natural sciences and social sciences to better understand the brain and reduce the burden of neurological and mental health disorders. The institute builds on the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative and partnerships with TMC institutions. Advancing brain health is a key priority in Rice’s 10-year strategic plan, which calls on the university to lead innovations in health.
Tringides is the second Rice faculty member to receive the award, following bioengineer Kevin McHugh’s recognition in 2022.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Tringides as a Distinguished Scientist Award recipient,” said Hilary Keeley, executive director of the Sontag Foundation. “Her forward-thinking research brings meaningful expertise and fresh perspective to our DSA community. We are honored to support Dr. Tringides’ work and excited to see the impact her project will have on the future of brain cancer research.”
Established in 2002 by Frederick and Susan Sontag following Susan’s battle with brain cancer, the Sontag Foundation is one of North America’s largest private funders of brain cancer research. Through its Distinguished Scientist Awards and related programs, the foundation supports a community of investigators committed to advancing scientific discoveries and treatment breakthroughs in brain cancer.
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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XNkt_jipzI
(Credit: Jeff Fitlow and Jorge Vidal/Rice University)
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Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering and computing, humanities, music, natural sciences and social sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Internationally, the university maintains the Rice Global Paris Center, a hub for innovative collaboration, research and inspired teaching located in the heart of Paris. With 4,776 undergraduates and 4,104 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 7 for best-run colleges by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by the Wall Street Journal and is included on Forbes’ exclusive list of “New Ivies.”