SCIENCE IS
THE ANSWER

Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute

Science

Less than 1 in 15 Texans suffering from depression each year receive sufficient care to recover. Tragically, nearly 4,000 people in the state die each year from suicide.

Intervention

Recognizing that people with mental illness can live productive and successful lives with the necessary treatment and support, Lyda Hill Philanthropies joined The Meadows Foundation by seeding Meadows Mental Policy Institute (“Meadows Institute”) with a grant to formally launch in 2014, additional growth capital in 2018, and the $10 million Lone Star Prize in 2021. The Meadows Institute brings together diverse mental health resources and services to identify and affect the policies, practices, and recommendations that impact how health care is implemented.

Impact

Due to the Meadows Institute’s engagement with the Texas legislature, in 2017, Texas decided to increase overall spending on mental health by over $1.2 billion – a billion over the level spent prior to the Meadows Institute’s engagement. More importantly, this work led to the state enacting its first ever Statewide Behavioral Health Strategic Plan, which created strategic priorities across 19 state agencies and added more than $3 billion in additional biennial behavioral health spending. In 2022, the Meadows Institute announced its Lone Star Depression Challenge to reduce barriers for all Texans with depression, detect their needs earlier, and care for them more effectively through community-based care.

Impact Factors

• Catalytic
• Evidence-based
• Enabling Public Investment
• Others Can’t or Won’t

Learn more about Meadows Metal Health Policy Institute 

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) – Methane / MiQ

Nature

Oil and gas make up over 20 billion tons (Gt) of life-cycle emissions each year, which is over half of human-made emissions. The oil and gas sector accounts for 25% of methane emissions worldwide and offers the best opportunities for near-term emissions reductions. Most operators have insufficient climate intelligence or motivation to rapidly cut their emissions. As a result, responsible oil and gas operators are not duly recognized or rewarded, while poor performers with irresponsible emissions are not disincentivized.

Intervention

Lyda Hill Philanthropies provided a seed grant to RMI to launch their Texas Methane Leak Elimination project, seeking to accelerate the transition to a low-leakage, climate-responsible natural gas supply chain. Cementing awareness and commitment to action by the Texas oil and gas industry, RMI is working with industry to establish the global standard for industry protocols and rules that define low-emissions gas.

Impact

RMI built the first-of-its-kind Climate Action Engine (CAE) that contains and visualizes all oil and gas records in Texas, emissions records, and satellite and flyover data. The platform informs operators, buyers, regulators, and investors on the state of flaring in the Permian. Additionally, RMI publicly launched their nonprofit spin-out MiQ, which is providing a first-of-its-kind, open-source, voluntary differentiated gas production standards for the entire supply chain. MiQ is now certifying 20% of US production – equivalent to 1,000 LNG cargoes – and major producers are scaling their involvement in certification.

Impact Factors

• Catalytic
• Evidence-based and Actionable Data
• Systemic Change
• Others Can’t or Won’t

Learn more about RMI – Methane/MiQ

Peloton Therapeutics

Science

Peloton Therapeutics was founded in 2011, based on two decades of research at UT Southwestern, to develop treatment to target late-stage renal carcinoma.

Intervention

In 2011, Lyda Hill launched a $200 million biotechnology venture fund, Remeditex Ventures. The fund invested in promising early-stage life science technologies spinning out of North Texas medical institutions. One of Lyda’s investments was in Peloton Therapeutics.

Impact

In 2019, Merck & Company Inc. acquired this company for an upfront payment of approximately $1 billion and potential milestones of an additional $1 billion.

UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) – Department of Bioinformatics

Science

Previously understood as the computational branch of genetics and genomics, bioinformatics is fast becoming an overarching science of biomedical information processing.

Intervention

In 2015, Lyda Hill Philanthropies provided a gift to create UT Southwestern’s Department of Bioinformatics to bridge research and clinical care. The Department is dedicated to developing UT Southwestern’s capability in bioinformatics, a discipline that provides tools for managing and analyzing the extremely large data sets that are increasingly key to developing new therapeutic strategies and to understanding the foundations of life and the defects that cause disease.

Impact

The Department of Bioinformatics distributes pilot grants to UT Southwestern researchers that leverage innovation in computer science and clinical research and organize an annual U-Hack Med initiative aimed at bringing together bioinformaticians and clinicians from around the country to solve complex biomedical data problems using computational biology.

Impact Factors

• Catalytic
• Transformative
• Others Can’t or Won’t

Learn more about UT Southwestern – Department of Bioinformatics

Texas Trees Foundation – Cool Schools Community Parks

Community

Texas Trees Foundation, through the State of the Dallas Urban Forest Report and Urban Heat Island Study, identified Dallas area school campuses as major urban heat islands. Most of these campuses have less than seven percent (7%) tree canopy coverage, and these heat islands are where students play. Additionally, in 2017, Trust for Public Land identified more than 500,000 Dallas residents who did not live within a 10-min walk to a park.

Intervention

Since 2017, LHP funded Texas Trees to work with the City, Trust for Public Land, and Dallas ISD to convert schoolyards located in park deserts into public parks after hours. A Cool School Community Park allows the community to enjoy the new heat-safe playground, walking trail, benches, and a community gathering space.

Impact

In less than five years, Dallas gained 25 new Cool School Community Parks, impacting over 16,000 students, and increasing park access to 73% of Dallas residents. By 2026 Texas Trees expects new parks at 20 additional campuses for a total of 45 new public parks within a decade.

Impact Factors

• Equitable
• Transformative
• Scalable and Sustainable
• Public Private Collaboration

Learn more about Texas Trees Foundation