The Atlanta chapter of the ARCS® Foundation Inc. (Achievement Rewards for College Students) has awarded $45,000 to seven UGA doctoral students in the biomedical and health sciences, four of whom are receiving the funding for the first time. The presentations were made at a Nov. 9 awards ceremony in Atlanta.
Keynote speaker for the event was David Spencer, director of the Center for Space Systems at Georgia Tech’s Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering.
Prior to joining Tech’s faculty, Spencer spent 17 years at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where he played lead roles in the Phoenix Mars Lander, Mars Pathfinder, Deep Impact and Mars Odyssey missions.
Founded in Los Angeles in 1958, the ARCS Foundation is dedicated to helping meet the country’s needs for scientists and engineers by providing scholarships to academically outstanding university students. UGA recipients of the award are selected through the UGA Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute.
This year’s ARCS Scholars at UGA are from the departments of cellular biology, biochemistry, psychology, neuroscience and pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences. The following students are UGA ARCS Foundation Scholars for 2009-2010:
- Benjamin Austin of Augusta is a Ph.D. candidate in psychology.
Using brain imaging technology, he is investigating neural plasticity, the ability of neural circuits in the brain to change over time in response to practice, in schizophrenia.
- Caryn Hale of Baton Rouge, La., is pursing her Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology.
Hale’s research focuses on a newly discovered RNA-based genome defense system in prokaryotic organisms. Her work may provide the means for experimental gene slicing in prokaryotes and for the development of a novel class of antibiotics.
- Carly Jordan of Houston, Texas, is pursing her Ph.D. in cellular biology.
She is examining the apicoplast, a unique and essential organelle in the human parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which may serve as a target for potential drug therapies.
- Megan McCormick of Fayetteville is a Ph.D. candidate in psychology.
She is currently examining the barriers that prevent adolescent organ transplant recipients from adhering to their immunosuppressant drug regimens. She hopes that a better understanding of this issue can lead to detection and better health outcomes for young patients.
- Meagan McManus of Albany is pursing her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences.
McManus’ research is currently evaluating the use of mitochondrially-targeted antioxidants as a potential therapeutic treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
- Elizabeth Rahn of Muscle Shoals, Ala., is pursuing a doctoral degree in neuroscience.
She is currently studying the therapeutics of cannabinoids, synthetic cannabis-like compounds, on neurotoxicity and pathological pain induced by chemotherapeutic agents.
- Michael Stramiello of Macon is a pursing pursuing a doctoral degree in neuroscience.
His research focuses on the cellular mechanisms that affect synaptic plasticity in the brain and play a role in various disorders of learning and memory, including addiction and Alzheimer’s disease.
The Atlanta chapter of the ARCS Foundation has awarded close to $2.1 million worth of scholarships to students at UGA, Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse College.
