Feb 14: ARCS Loves You Coffee, 9:30 am, home of Julie Hohl

Feb 27: Senior Members/Past Presidents Afternoon Tea, 11:30 am, home of Julie Hohl

Apr 1: Visit at Johns Hopkins University

Apr 4: Eagle Award Gala, 6:30 pm, Army Navy Club in Washington, DC

May 15: Annual Membership Potluck Luncheon Meeting, Location TBD

Jun 8: Picnic/Barbeque, home of Patty Sparrell

Dear ARCS MWC Members,

We had a lovely Winter Membership Luncheon on Sunday and enjoyed sharing time with our members and guests while learning more about the current state of AI from our distinguished panel. A special shout out to Mary Jo for organizing this event at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

As a reminder, the nominating process is just beginning. We hope you will all consider a chapter leadership role. The success of our chapter depends on leaders like you.

Our Chapter visit to Johns Hopkins University will be Tues, Apr 1, at the Baltimore campus. Stay tuned for more upcoming dates for our University visits! They are a perfect time to carpool with other members, and hear from our talented scholars.

Now all efforts are focused on the upcoming Eagle Award Ceremony, honoring Nobel Laurate in Physics, Dr. John Mather. We look forward to seeing you all there and welcome you to invite guests to share this celebration and fundraiser for our chapter.

Hope to see you on Valentine’s Day for the ARCS Loves You Coffee,

~ Julie Hohl and Patty Sparrell, ARCS-MWC Co-Presidents

Registration is now open for the ARCS MWC Eagle Award Celebration on Fri, Apr 4 from 6:30–9:30 pm at the Army Navy Club in Washington, D.C. 

This year's Eagle Honoree will be Dr. John Mather, Physics Nobel Laureate, and Senior Astrophysicist. He was the Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.  

Fantastic venue, amazing speakers, great celebration! Start spreading the word to family, friends and colleagues. Our goal is to have 80 attendees, raise as much money as possible for our Scholar Fund, and aim for 100% participation from our members through ticket sales, donations and live auction. Contact Charlotte Knight at charlottesklarsky@gmail.com if you'd like to help - a great way to meet members and have fun!

Registration deadline is Mar 24. Watch your mailbox for the invitation. You can also click here to register.

The spring Campus Visit date for Johns Hopkins University is Tues, Apr 1 at the Baltimore campus. Schedule and agenda details will follow when available. RSVP to Michelle Francis if you are able to join at msmahf@gmail.com.

By popular demand! Come join your sister members for an ARCS Loves You Coffee on Valentine's Day, Fri, Feb 14, starting at 9:30 am. Julie Hohl will be hosting the event at her home, 7203 Capitol View Drive, McLean, VA 22101. All are invited to participate in light fare and activities. ARCS members and friends are welcome! RSVP by Feb 13 to Julie at jbzhohl@verizon.net or 703-615-6356 if you're able to attend. We hope to see you there!

Senior ARCS members, join Julie Hohl and Patty Sparrell on Thurs, Feb 27 for an Afternoon Tea honoring senior members and past presidents! The tea will be from 11:30 am-1:30 pm at Julie's home, 7203 Capitol View Drive, McLean, VA 22101. RSVP by Feb 24 to Julie at jbzhohl@verizon.net or 703-615-6356 if you're able to attend. Look for a paper invitation in the mail, coming soon!

The ARCS Metro Washington Chapter’s (ARCS MWC) Winter Membership Meeting featured an intriguing panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI)—Application of Artificial Intelligence in Research and Industry—during a luncheon with almost 50 attendees at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Fairfax, VA, on Sun, Feb 9. The panel was moderated by Mr. Ryan Simpson, Public Sector Chief Technologist, NVIDIA, and featured three enthralling industry speakers: Dr. Anahita Imanian, Lead AI Data Scientist, MITRE; ARCS MWC’s own Dr. Melissa Rhoads-Simpson, Director Accelerating C2 Capability Transition, Lockheed Martin; and Mr. Earl Stafford, Jr., CEO, Aperio Global.

The panelists agreed that AI is a new industrial revolution enabling unforeseen promise and results in multiple sectors, including (to name a few): aviation safety, healthcare, finance, synthetic biology, and space and defense applications. After calling it an exhilarating time to chart the future of technological innovation, the panelists held a lively question-and-answer session with the audience.

The meeting concluded with the chapter’s business meeting, which highlighted the many initiatives and events organized by ARCS MWC leadership since the last membership meeting in September 2024. Thanks to Mary Jo Ruane for organizing the very informative and interesting event! Thanks also to the members of the Activities Council for contacting ARCS MWC members about it. 

From l to r: Julie Hohl, Earl Stafford, Melissa Rhoads-Simpson, Ryan Simpson, Anahita Imanian, and Patty Sparrell.

Would you like to be more involved with our chapter? Would you like to have a leadership role? Do you have a special talent you could share? Is there a member you would like to nominate for a bigger role at ARCS MWC? Please reach out to Nominating Committee Chair Mary Jo Ruane (maryjoruane@yahoo.com) or Nominating Committee Past Chair Jane Riddle (jriddle13998@gmail.com) to share your ideas and interests.

February is National Heart Month, and ARCS MWC Scholar Emily Cheung is featured in the ARCS National newsletter, which highlights her research into a heart condition to develop a novel therapy to mitigate the risks. Emily is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at George Washington University. Read more about Emily and her research here.

Priscilla Roberts has been a member of ARCS MWC since 1990, when she was sponsored by Margie Shanklin. We thank Priscilla for her longtime service over the past 34 years and for her continuing commitment to ARCS MWC! 

Priscilla and Margie have been friends for a long time and have volunteered together in several organizations. After Margie brought her as a guest to several ARCS MWC events, Priscilla joined our chapter because she thought that the ladies were lovely and she believed in the goals and mission. She belongs to 40 linear societies with programs supporting students (for example, she founded a chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the first time a chapter of the society was formed outside Texas). 

Priscilla has stayed in ARCS MWC mainly because she likes the gracious splendid ladies, the wonderful events, and the noble mission. She attends many ARCS MWC events! She likes them all but her favorites have been the fieldtrips. Two examples of fieldtrips she attended were a visit to a reservoir and a trip to a military base (she was married to Major General James Milnor Roberts so she appreciates things of a military nature). She finds that ARCS MWC trips are always in good taste and patriotic.

Priscilla would like to share the following with current members of ARCS MWC, particularly new members. She says that the freedom of a country depends on the expertise of those who run it, so it is imperative that we have men and women leaders of great skill and education, particularly in STEM fields. Priscilla says that ongoing STEM education and the resulting innovation is important for the United States to remain a strong country and to keep its position in the world. She adds that it is important to financially support those who exhibit a desire to better the world. Priscilla enjoys working with wonderful people, especially the marvelous women of ARCS MWC, on worthwhile projects for the good of many.

ARCS MWC welcomed three new members in Jan! The first profiled here is Susan McQuade, who is sponsored by Becky Corcoran. 

Susan is a third-generation University of Michigan graduate! Her bachelor’s is in Botany and masters is in Health Services Administration. For over 19 years, she worked in several hospitals and for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Kaiser Permanente, and for a consulting company. Once her children were born, she worked part-time so that she could devote more time to family, continue her studies in music and dance, and volunteer.

Susan has played the clarinet for over 56 years, and also plays cello, flute and euphonium. She has played in the National Concert Band of America, the Capital Wind Symphony, several local orchestras, and has performed as a soloist in four states and in the Philippines. She's performed at annual Merry Tuba Christmas concerts at the Kennedy Center and in other cities. Susan enjoyed over a decade of volunteering with the Langley High School Orchestra, assisting with publicity articles, concert program editing, fundraisers and trip planning. She also completed a certification program in Early Childhood Music and taught at local preschools.

Susan has studied classical ballet since age 5 and currently spends most of her time as a musician and dancer with a senior performing arts company, Helping Hearts Through the Arts. Their mission is to inspire lifelong movement and love of the arts for senior populations in the metropolitan Washington, DC area, and they perform in nursing homes and senior communities, and teach movement activities. Performing at Capital One Hall is an annual highlight.

Susan and her husband, Kinnaird McQuade, Jr., have lived in the Washington, DC area for 37 years. They raised their three children in Great Falls, which has been their home for 25 years. She and her family strongly value lifelong learning and giving back to the community. Susan attended the holiday party and the holiday coffee this past Dec. Joining ARCS MWC enables Susan to continue her family traditions while reconnecting her to her scientific and analytical background.

Alexander Lekan – Forster Family Foundation Scholar

1st Year Scholar, MD/PhD candidate, Tumor Biology 

Georgetown University

Research: Identifying treatment strategies to increase immune cell accumulation in pancreatic cancer in order to improve patient responses to immunotherapy. Specifically, utilizing high throughput spatial imaging technologies to identify the impact of increasing immune cell-tumor cell interactions on promoting anti-tumor effects in pancreatic cancer.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common form of pancreatic cancer and has a 5 year survival rate of 12%. Immunotherapy has had limited efficacy in PDAC due to the immunosuppressive nature of the PDAC tumor microenvironment (TME). Thus, identifying factors that limit immunotherapy efficacy in PDAC is of the utmost importance. Dipeptidyl peptidases (DPPs) are a family of enzymes involved in fibrosis, metabolism, and cancer that have been found to be overexpressed in PDAC. Treatment with BXCL701 (701), a pan-DPP inhibitor, enhances anti-tumor effects of anti-PD1 antibody (α-PD1) therapy, in part by increasing activated T and Natural Killer cell infiltration. Significantly, I have found that pan-DPP inhibition is required for optimal tumor clearance, induces intra-tumoral production of immune activating cytokines, and dramatically reduces fibrosis. In order to further examine the impact of DPP inhibition on immune-tumor cell interactions, I will utilize a spatial multi-omics platform called Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC), which is a multiplex imaging system that uses up to 40 metal-conjugated antibody markers to gain information of both tissue structure and single-cell data to conduct higher order proteomic single cell analysis. These results will provide insights into the impact of DPP inhibition on immune cell-tumor cell interactions and identify potential targets that impact therapeutic efficacy of immunotherapy.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

Although spatial proteomic imaging technologies are increasing in popularity, reagent costs are still a barrier. Funds from the ARCS award will allow me to overcome these barriers to address my hypothesis and progress my thesis project.

Career objectives: My goal is to become a leading physician-scientist in the field of cancer immunology, working to develop new therapies for pancreatic cancer. Simultaneously, I hope to serve as a leader for the next generation of scientists, advocating for science education and research.

Rachael Maynard – JCM Foundation Scholar

1st Year Scholar, MD/PhD candidate, Tumor Biology 

Georgetown University

Research: Current therapies are not very successful at reducing pancreatic cancer tumor burden. In my past research, I engineered natural killer (NK) cells that better invade and kill pancreatic cancers, enhancing their usefulness in treating solid tumors. Current research examines the impact of these NK cells on other human immune cells within tumors in a humanized mouse model.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society? 

Over 300,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma each year and the current 5-year survival rate is less than 10%. Current therapies are not very successful at reducing tumor burden. Because of this, it is critical to develop novel therapies to address this gap in treatment. Our laboratory has found that NK cell content within pancreatic tumors is associated with a better prognosis, suggesting a potential role for NK cells in the treatment of this deadly disease. These findings provide a novel approach to modulate NK cell trafficking and tumor infiltration, and to enhance cell-based therapy in solid tumors. Because we must use immunodeficient mouse models to test human NK cell treatments, we are not able to study the impact of these NK cell therapies on other immune cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Using a humanized mouse model will provide insight into how NK cells operate in a more physiologically relevant environment. This will allow us to analyze the immune cell content within the TME as well as the activation state of the T cells and macrophages present.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

Although humanized mice provide an incredible opportunity to study impacts of novel immunotherapies on the human immune system, cost is a barrier. Funds provided by the ARCS award will allow me to overcome this barrier to address my hypothesis and further my thesis research. Using humanized mice, I will be able to assess the impact of these NK cells on other components of the immune system present within the TME to further elucidate the therapeutic benefits of this treatment.

Career objectives: As an MD/PhD student, I am hoping to be involved in the process of translating research from the benchtop to the clinic. I have seen firsthand the difference clinical trials can make in the lives of patients and would be honored to someday play a role in this.

Jonathan Riess – Toni & Hans Schierling Undergraduate Scholar

Undergraduate Scholar, Physics and Mathematics

Georgetown University

Research: Current superconductors used in quantum computers and particle accelerators must be supercooled to maintain their property resulting in large cooling energy requirements. This research in holographic superconductivity will attempt to understand the nuclear physics, which sets the temperature at which a material becomes superconducting and what features of a material one would need to fine tune to create a room temperature superconductor.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

My research focus here is in holographic superconductivity. Superconductivity, a phenomenon in which a material can transmit a current without resistance, is used in a wide variety of applications from quantum computers to particle accelerators. However, current superconductors have to be cooled to very low temperatures in order to exhibit their superconducting property. It has been an open question whether room temperature superconductors, i.e. materials which don’t need to be cooled in order to be superconductors, can be created. Such a material would revolutionize the way we transmit energy, making any technology which uses electricity incredibly energy efficient, decreasing electricity consumption while opening up new renewable energy options, and enabling a variety of new technologies including new transportation options. My research in holographic superconductivity fits into this narrative by attempting to understand what sets the temperature at which a material becomes superconducting and what features of a material one would need to fine tune in order to get a room temperature superconductor.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

The ARCS award will benefit my research progress several fold. It will:

- allow me to focus fully on the research for my two bachelors’ theses, without needing to work two jobs;

- give me the option to attend conferences to present my research and meet other researchers and potential collaborators;

- enable me to cover the travel costs to the University of Maryland, where

I plan on taking a third year PhD course on current research methods in physics; and

- help me cover submission costs to journals for publishing papers as a result of my thesis research.

Career objectives: Research Professor in Theoretical High Energy Physics, focusing on holographic duality and beyond the standard model physics.

Submit articles, pictures, pdfs, and website links by the 20th of each month for publication the following month to Helen Miller at mwccommunications@arcsfoundation.org.