An Austin based scientist has received a prestigious award for his research into how viruses infect us, and how to stop or slow them. Jason McLellan is structural biologist at The University of Texas at Austin and the winner of the MacArthur Fellowship, generally known as the “genius grant.”

The five-year grant gives winners $800,000 stipends that the recipients can choose to use it however they’d like. The fellows have proven that they know how to handle resources to get results; the MacArthur Foundation describes them as “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.”

McLellan is a professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry. Much of his early career work focused on RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), which is common in young children and elderly people. According to the American Lung Association, it is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants.

The scientist used a process called structure-based design to learn about a “shape-shifting protein” on the surface of RSV, which then helped determine what could be done to stop it. As a result, the release says, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved RSV vaccines produced by GSK, Pfizer and Moderna. What he found also helped other scientists learn about using monoclonal antibodies against RSV.

All that later led McLellan to work on coronaviruses, such as SARS, MERS, and of course, COVID-19. His work contributed to the vaccines developed by Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Novavax, and more. The release cites a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet that said such vaccines have prevented tens of millions of deaths.

“I’m extremely honored to be chosen to join this prestigious group of scholars, scientists, teachers and artists,” McLellan said in the release. “I also want to give my heartfelt thanks to all the mentors, collaborators and students and fellows who have contributed to my success. None of this happens in a vacuum — science is a team effort.”

“Jason McLellan embodies scientific excellence and innovative problem solving,” said David Vanden Bout, dean of UT’s College of Natural Sciences. “He is both a thoughtful and collaborative fellow researcher to people who know him well and a source of inspiration to people who have never met him but who have benefited from his research. Fueled by a spirit of public service, he accomplishes what many people enter science to do: help people live longer, healthier lives through discoveries in their labs.”

This is a banner year for McLellan, a first-generation college student. He’s won several prestigious awards, but the MacArthur Fellowship is the most recognizable outside of the sciences. In 2025 he was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the same scientific contributions.

Week 7 of the 2025 Central Texas high school football season is in the books. Here are scores from Thursday and Friday night games around the Austin area:

Westlake 58, Austin High 14

A&M Consolidated 62, Lehman 0

Regents 56, Tyler Grace 7

TMI-Episcopal 53, St. Stephen’s 26

Vandegrift 46, Cedar Ridge 6

McNeil 45, Vista Ridge 42

Dripping Springs 28, Bowie 21

Lake Travis 56, Del Valle 14

S.A. East Central 28, San Marcos 24

East View 42, Cedar Park 38

Leander 49, Killeen Chaparral 6

Anderson 45, Hendrickson 24

College Station 73, Cedar Creek 7

Pflugerville 56, McCallum 21

Burnet 35, Marble Falls 14

Lampasas at Brownwood, late

Eastside 72, Austin Achieve 6 

Gonzales 34, Lago Vista 28

Jarrell 35, Geronimo Navarro 21

Ingram Moore 44, Florence 7

As the Michelin Guide — famous for its restaurant ratings expressed in “stars” — hands out its “keys” to Texas’ best hotels, Austin and San Antonio are doing almost exactly as well as they did last year. That’s nothing to scoff at in Austin; eight hotels have maintained their place on the prestigious list, which is not guaranteed. In San Antonio, one hotel holds onto the city’s claim to Michelin fame, and even gained a higher ranking than before.

In 2024, the world-renowned Michelin Guide published its first-ever North American “Michelin Key” selection. Then there were 288 total hotels across the United States, Mexico, and Canada; this year on Wednesday, October 8, Michelin added 37 hotels nationwide to the list, now totaling more than 300. The classifications are awarded based on anonymous stays or visits by the Michelin Guide’s inspection team, and previous praise is not taken into consideration.

One Austin business did get an extra boost among those 37. Bunkhouse Hotels, the group behind many of Austin’s best boutique stays, opened its first Houston hotel in late 2024. Called Hotel Saint Augustine, it earned one key, deeming it “a very special stay.” Like stars, keys denote more greatness the higher the number goes, capping out at a perfect three.

Since Central Texas’ hotels are not new on the list, they did not receive new write-ups on the list linked above. However, for travelers who want to experience the best regardless of newness, here they are.

Austin, two keys:

Austin, one key:

With the same number of keys as in 2024, the Commodore Perry Estate is as stately as ever. Austinites are likely the most familiar with Lutie’s, the beautiful on-site restaurant draped in plants and offering up impeccable seasonal dishes.

“California’s Auberge Collection, now a global family, are known for their tasteful luxury and for their variety — and the Commodore Perry Estate, set on ten acres of land in urban Austin, Texas, is unique by any standard,” the resort’s Michelin Guide profile says. “It’s a Twenties mansion and satellite buildings in Italianate and Spanish Revival styles, and it’s all been brought entirely up to date by the expert hospitality designer Ken Fulk. The result sacrifices none of the estate’s throwback atmosphere, but brings it up to a 21st-century standard; like everything Auberge touches, it’s the very picture of modern boutique luxury.”

San Antonio, two keys:

This historic landmark adds another feather to its cap — or key to its ring — becoming one of only three stays in Texas awarded a second key. The third two-key hotel is Fort Worth’s Bowie House, which is also part of the Auberge Resorts Collection. That does make Hotel Emma the only two-key hotel in Texas that is full Texas-owned (Silver Ventures, Inc.) and operated (Woodbine Development Corporation).

Hotel Emma’s write-up is much longer (and more colorful) than Commodore Perry’s.

“Let it never be said that South Texans don’t know the meaning of luxury; besides Frette linens, Malin + Goetz bath amenities, and 48-inch HDTVs, a slew of tough-to-replicate touches elevate the experience far beyond the norm,” says a portion of the profile. “Dark-wood and aged bronze accents. Freestanding, clawfoot tubs. Seersucker robes by Dos Carolinas. Spanish porcelain. Mesquite-furnished terraces with Redondo tile. If, upon opening the bespoke armoire, you’re not charmed by the wealth of upscale eats and signature margarita makings in the ‘icebox,’ we don’t quite know what to tell you.”