Current Scholars

ARCS® Foundation Atlanta Chapter is honored to present the 2020-2021 Scholar Awards to these outstanding candidates from Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse College, and the University of Georgia

Aaron Bosse

• Glenn Award
• Ph.D. Student, Organic Chemistry
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research Interests: C–H functionalization applied to total synthesis and method development.

Ana Enriquez

• Herz Global Impact Award
• Ph.D. Student, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research Interests: elucidating the interactions between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and dendritic cells and its effect on T cells responses during infection

Amanda Gill

• Donnell Award
• Ph.D. Student, Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research Interests: investigating the molecular mechanisms of T cell exhaustion and reinvigoration

Jessica Hoffman

• Northside Hospital Award
• Ph.D. Student, Molecular and Systems Pharmacology
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: building computational models to predict stem cell therapy outcomes for pediatric heart disease patients.

Kate Holmes

• Klamon/Reid Award
• Ph.D. Student, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: emerging and re-emerging zoonotic viral pathogens, and influenza virus diversity and evolution.

Steve Knutson

• Carroll/ARCS Award
• Ph.D. Student, Chemistry
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: RNA editing and synthetic biology.

Katie Labgold

• Hawkins/Liss Award
• Ph.D. Student, Epidemiology
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: how novel epidemiological methods can improve applied public health research.

Kari Mattison

• Gillin/Ritz-Carlton Award
• Ph.D. Student, Genetics and Molecular Biology
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: the discovery of disease genes and elucidation of disease mechanisms, with particular interest in the role of a novel gene, ATP6V0C, in epilepsy.

Zerleen Quader

• BlackRock Award
• Ph.D. Student, Epidemiology
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: to understand how social determinants of health and structural factors play a role in childhood cardio-metabolic health.

Elizabeth Sajewski

• Herz Global Impact Award
• Ph.D. Student, Environmental Health Sciences
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: the intersection of water infrastructure and infectious disease, with particular interest in using mathematical models to simulate enteric disease dynamics.

Sarah Strassler

• Petter Award
• Ph.D. Student, Biochemistry
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• National Science Foundation predoctoral fellow
• Research interests: the structural basis of RNA-protein interactions, and bacterial enzymes that confer antibiotic resistance.

Nathan Brown

• Siemens Award
• Ph.D. Student, Aerospace Engineering
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: Plasma-material interaction.  Nathan is developing a novel plasma diagnostic for electric spacecraft propulsion and fusion energy production.

Asheley Chapman

• Herz Global Impact Award
• Ph.D. Student, Biochemistry
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research Interests:  the development on nanoparticle-based vaccines and immunotherapies against bacterial and cancer targets.

Carmen Chen

• Burke Award
• Ph.D. Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: developing nanoporous materials to collect water vapor in the atmosphere.

 

Kenton Blane Fillingim

• Graves Award
• Ph.D. Student, Engineering Design
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: understanding the development and implementation of heuristics and biases in design. 

Alli Gombolay

• Herz Global Impact Award
• Ph.D. Student, Bioinformatics
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: developing and applying computational tools to study DNA repair and genome stability. 

Hannah Holmes

• John and Mary Franklin Award
• Ph.D. Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: improving the efficiency of CO2 capture technologies using hollow fiber sorbents.

Amy Lynnae Luettich

• Dodson/Plummer/ARCS Award
• Ph.D. Student, Civil Engineering
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: urban stormwater management through the focus of Geo-Environmental Engineering.

Sydney Popsuj

• Doyle/Easterly/ARCS Award
• Ph.D. Student, Biology
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: the evolution and loss of photosensory systems in the development of certain species of tunicates

Ziad Rashed

• Herz Global Impact Award
• Ph.D. Student, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: how to use tools from nonlinear/chaotic dynamics to gain a greater understanding of the complex interactions between glacier and ocean systems.

Kantwon Rogers

• BlackRock Award
• Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: artificial intelligence and robotics with a focus on investigating the influences that prosocial deception has on human-robot interaction.

Sarah Sundius

• Lundeen/Chambers/ARCS Award
• Ph.D. Student, Quantitative Biosciences
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: developing novel mathematical models for dynamic microbial species interactions using both deterministic and stochastic approaches.

Tony Wang

• Drummond Award
• Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: to develop micro-robots to perform neurosurgery.

Erik Wijmans

• BlackRock Award
• Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: to develop fundamental techniques, algorithms, and large-scale systems for robotic assistants.

Katherine Young

• Northside Hospital Award
• Ph.D. Student, Biomedical Engineering
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: studying the correlation between single cell mechanics and gene expression to better understand cancer metastasis.

Caleb Baines

• Georgia Pacific Award
• Dual Degree Engineering/Computer Engineering Major
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: various fields of technology with a particular interest in machine learning.

Lewis Campbell

• Goodhew/McGonigle Award
• Dual Degree Engineering/Physics Major
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: fabrics, textiles and their topology, specifically looking at the effects of nonlinear elasticity on the structural and mechanical properties in complex systems.  He is currently exploring knot motifs and algorithms for patternmaking.

Storm Chin

• BlackRock Award
• Computer Science and Mathematics Major
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: neuroscience, data analytics and machine learning

Charles Coleman

• Genuine Parts Award
• Applied Physics Major with a concentration in Biomedical Engineering
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: biomedical applications and biomaterials, as well as nanoscience and its applications

Dimitri Johnson

• Glenn Leadership Award
• Biology Major
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: genetics and neuroscience.

Christian Lubin

• BlackRock Award
• Chemistry Major
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: designing and synthesizing new drugs for the pharmaceutical industry

Jabari McGinnis

• Davis Award
• Biology Major
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: Alzheimer’s and Aging research

Jeffrey White

• BlackRock Award
• Biology Major, Neuroscience Minor
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: Neglected tropical diseases that are endemic in low-income subpopulations of developing regions

Christian Andersen

• Northside Hospital Award
• Ph.D. Student, Toxicology
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: molecular mechanisms contributing to effects of chemotherapeutics on the female reproductive tract.

 

Alyssa Baugh

• Sartain Lanier Award
• Ph.D. Student, Microbiology
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: genetically engineering bacteria to make biofuels. She hopes to do research on microbially-mediated bioremediation and bioproduction.

Amy Briggs

• Olchowski/Potter Award
• Ph.D. Student, Ecology
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: how humans and changing environmental conditions (e.g., rising temperatures and ocean acidification) affect ecosystems, working in coral reefs in the tropical Pacific.

Megan Douglass

• Broscher/Hinkle Award
• Ph.D. Student, Biomedical Engineering
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: the development of antimicrobial and blood-compatible surface modifications for biomedical devices.

Katie Duval

• Leake/Boyd Award
• Ph.D. Student, Genetics
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: the establishment and regulation of chromatin states in vertebrate development.

 

Nicholas Haynes

• Burtchaell Award
• Ph.D. Student, Industrial-Organizational Psychology
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: the psycho-physiological pathways and outcomes of workaholism and workplace health interventions.

Emily Krach

• UPS Award
• Ph.D. Student, Genetics
• Third Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: working to integrate microfluidic technologies to better understand genetic pathways involved in fungal growth dynamics.

Liju Mathew

• Dick Award
• Ph.D. Student, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• First Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: characterizing the molecular mechanism of a reaction pathway in pathogenic E. coli, with broader interests in enzyme structure-function relationships and natural products discovery.

Michael Mills

• Herz Global Impact Award
• Ph.D. Student, Microbiology
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: to understand and develop medicines against the organisms involved in the neglected tropical disease, Lymphatic filariasis.

Mariel Pfeifer

• Henry/Wahlen Award
• Ph.D. Student, Plant Biology
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: discovering the details of nuclear migration during rice plant infection by the fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. Mariel’s biology education research focuses on the self-advocacy experiences of students with specific learning disabilities and/or ADHD in undergraduate STEM courses.

Kate Sabey

• Herz Global Impact Award
• Ph.D. Student, Infectious Diseases
• Second Year ARCS Scholar
• Research interests: combining her interests in genomics and veterinary medicine to investigate how the microbiome shapes infection processes in African wildlife.