ARCS Foundation Utah Chapter has announced that University of Utah graduate student Amanda Reynolds is the first recipient of the new Roche/ARCS Foundation Scholar Award Program in the Life Sciences, a unique program that supports graduate students in the life sciences.

Amanda Reynolds

Philip Erickson

Alex Szendrei

Eileen Hwang

Last June, ARCS Foundation announced it was partnering with the Roche Foundation, a charitable organization that promotes health, science and math education, to support the Scholar Award Program. As many as 40 students in ARCS Foundation chapters throughout the country will become Roche/ARCS Foundation Scholars during the next three years. Amanda Reynolds, who completed a B.S. in biochemistry at the University of Florida in Gainesville, is now a graduate student in bioengineering at the U. She is interested in applying materials research in a biological environment and creating new materials and devices for the medical field.

The three other 2014-2015 ARCS Foundation Utah Chapter scholars at the University of Utah are:

  • Philip Erickson, an honors graduate from Brigham Young University with a B.S. in electrical engineering who worked as a software engineer at L-3 Communications in Salt Lake City, is attending the U to complete his Ph.D. in computer science.
  • Alex Szendrei, a graduate in biology and chemistry from the University of Southern Maine, is now a graduate student in materials science and engineering at the U. He is planning to focus his research on electrochemistry and electrical materials.
  • Eileen Hwang, who completed the M.D./Ph.D. program at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, has joined the ophthalmology residency program at the University of Utah’s Moran Eye Center. She is researching the role of genetic risk factors and serum biomarkers for age-related macular degeneration.

All four of the 2014-2015 ARCS scholars will receive $15,000 to help further their studies at the University of Utah. ARCS Foundation Utah Chapter is one of 17 chapters of the national nonprofit women’s organization throughout the country, which helps U.S. students completing degrees in science, engineering and medical research at 54 research universities across the nation. The group has awarded $87 million to more than 8,900 students since its inception in 1958. The Utah chapter, which began in 2009, has thus far funded 18 scholars for a total of $270,000. Second- and third-year funding provided by the College of Engineering and the Moran Eye Center brings the grand total of funds provided and committed to $810,000.

ARCS Foundation Utah Chapter was honored to host the ARCS National Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City this past September 17-20. More than 90 individuals, including ARCS Foundation members and their guests from throughout the country, enjoyed presentations given by U of U President David Pershing; USTAR Executive Director Ivy Estabrooke; L-3 Communications Corp. Executive VP Susan Opp; Drs. Nassir Marrouche and Chris McGann of the U’s Comprehensive Arrhythmia Research & Management Center (CARMA); Chris Johnson, director of the U’s Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute; and Richard Brown, dean of the U’s College of Engineering. The attendees also participated in various tours and events at the university and throughout Salt Lake City.