Mar 8: Winter Membership Meeting, 12-3 pm, Riverbend Country Club, Great Falls, VA - Remember to "spring forward" Sat night!

Mar 18: Visit at University of Virginia, 11:30 am-2:45 pm

Mar 25: Visit at Johns Hopkins University, 10 am -1 pm

Apr 1: Visit at University of Maryland, 10:30 am-3 pm

Apr 16: Visit at Georgetown University, 2-4 pm

Apr 23: Visit at George Washington University, 10-11:30 am

May 1: Eagle Award Gala, 6:30-9:30 pm, Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC

May 31: Annual Membership Luncheon Meeting, home of Robyn Smith

Jun 7: Picnic/Barbeque, home of Patty Sparrell

Dear ARCS MWC Members,

We hope you’ve been enjoying these last weeks of winter and finding moments to connect with friends and fellow members.

On Feb 6, we had the pleasure of hosting an ARCS Loves You gathering at the Dolly Madison Library. Together, we wrote heartfelt notes to more than 40 members we don’t have the opportunity to see often enough. It was such a joy to spend time reconnecting over coffee and snacks, while reaching out to others in a meaningful way. Thank you to everyone who joined us — we hope the cards brought smiles to the members who received them.

We also had the pleasure of hosting our ARCS Tea for past presidents and long-serving members last week. Sixteen members joined us for a lovely afternoon filled with warm conversation, laughter, and a delicious luncheon and tea. It is always such an honor to gather with this remarkable group of women whose leadership and dedication have sustained and strengthened our chapter for so many years. Their example continues to inspire us.

We are very much looking forward to our Winter Membership Meeting and Luncheon on Mar 8. We are delighted to welcome retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, who will speak about his recently published memoir. The conversation will be moderated by ARCS MWC member Silvija Strikis, who clerked for Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and is now a partner at Kellogg Hansen in Washington, DC. It promises to be a thoughtful and engaging program.

Invitations for our May 1 Eagle Celebration, where we will honor ARCS MWC member Deborah Wince-Smith, have been sent—please be sure to RSVP early and invite your friends and colleagues to join us for this special evening.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of our ARCS mission. The strength of our chapter comes from the time, talent, and generosity of each of you.

With gratitude,

~ Julie Hohl and Jane Riddle, ARCS MWC Co-Presidents

A Final Details email was sent Wed, Mar 4 with important information for our MWC Membership Meeting Luncheon this Sun, Mar 8, from 12-3 pm at Riverbend Golf and Country Club. In addition to the business meeting, we will welcome Retired Associate US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who will share from his new memoir - Life, Law & Liberty. This is an event you won't want to miss!

Remember also that Daylight Saving Time returns on Mar 8 and to "spring forward” an hour at 2 am (to 3 am)!

Invitations are out and registration is open for ARCS MWC's big fundraising event of the year! On May 1 we will recognize The Honorable Deborah Wince Smith as this year’s Eagle Award recipient. Deborah is the Founder and CEO of Council on Competitiveness as well as an ARCS MWC member! We are excited to announce that Dr. Peter McDonnell, Director of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, 1981-82 ARCS MWC Scholar from Johns Hopkins, and 2019 ARCS Alumni Hall of Fame recipient, will join Deborah on the program as the ARCS Scholar Alum speaker.

The event will be held at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC. The program will include a hosted cocktail hour, plated dinner, and remarks by ARCS Scholars, our ARCS Scholar Alum, and our Eagle Honoree. The evening will close with a fun auction featuring activities, vacation items, and original artwork, as well as a “Raise the Paddle” event.

Are you interested in sponsoring the Eagle event or know of event sponsorship opportunities? Contact Patty Sparrell at mwcvpdevelopment@arcsfoundation.org.

Our ARCS MWC University Visits for spring 2026 begin Mar 18! These are wonderful opportunities to hear about the breadth of research being performed by our scholars, as well as a show of support!

Click here to sign up and indicate your desire to carpool.

Mar 18: Visit at University of Virginia, 11:30 am-2:45 pm

Mar 25: Visit at Johns Hopkins University, 10 am -1 pm

Apr 1: Visit at University of Maryland, 10:30 am-3 pm

Apr 16: Visit at Georgetown University, 2-4 pm

Apr 23: Visit at George Washington University, 10-11:30 am

Try to attend at least one!

University of Virginia Visit

March 18, 11:30 am-2:45 pm

Arrival 11:30 am

Welcome and Introductions 11:45 am

Buffet Lunch 12 pm

Presentations with Q&A 12:30 pm

Wrap-up 1:25 pm

Break 1:30 pm

Lab Tour 1:40-2:45 pm

Johns Hopkins University Visit

March 25, 10 am -1 pm

10:00 AM ARRIVAL

10:30 AM WELCOME

10:45 AM ARCS/MWC SCHOLAR PRESENTATIONS

12:00 PM CLOSING

12:10 PM LUNCHEON

1:00 PM GROUP PHOTO & DEPARTURE

University of Maryland Visit

April 1, 10:30 am-3 pm

Morning Session 10:30 am - 12:15 pm

University House Luncheon 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm

Zupnik Hall Hard Hat Tour 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Georgetown University Visit

April 16, 2-4 pm

Introductions and Opening Remarks: 2:00 – 2:20 PM

Scholar Presentations and Q&A: 2:20 – 3:00 PM

Afternoon Tea Reception: 3:00 – 3:25 PM

Closing Remarks and Lab Tour: 3:25 – 4:00 PM

George Washington University Visit

April 23, 10-11:30 am

Agenda Coming in April!

Sandra Boek Werness (Sandy) became an ARCS MWC member in 2008. She was sponsored by her mother, Jean Boek, who herself had become a member in 1992. We thank Sandy for her long-time commitment to our chapter and her ongoing support of our ARCS MWC Scholars! 

Sandy said that she became an ARCS MWC member because her mother had been involved with ARCS MWC for many years and brought Sandy and her husband, Bruce, to many events. Sandy said that her mother had really loved the chapter and its members, and it seemed like a natural progression to join. Another reason Sandy joined is that she also loves science and engineering, continuing her family’s passion for the topics! Jean and her husband, Walter, were both involved in numerous scientific endeavors. Walter founded what is now the Global Autoimmune Institute (GAI), which funds research, education, and multidisciplinary practice of medicine, and Jean then joined him in the initiative. Sandy is the Executive Director of GAI.

Sandy is still an ARCS MWC member because she thinks that encouraging young scientists and engineers the way ARCS does is fantastic. She said that the chapter’s goal of encouraging them to continue their important work by supporting them financially contributes to the growth and knowledge of important areas such as immunology. Sandy is delighted to have had the chance to join her fellow members in supporting the chapter’s Scholars. 

Sandy added that ARCS indirectly helped inspire her formulation of the mission of Global Autoimmune Institute. ARCS also played a role in GAI's support of the La Jolla Institute of Immunology (LJI), since the head of development at LJI was a member of ARCS. As such, in her role with GAI, Sandy reaches out to organizations and people involved in autoimmune diseases, including those related to Parkinson's and Alzheimer’s.

When asked what she would say to her fellow ARCS MWC members, especially the newer ones, Sandy passionately said, “Stay involved with ARCS!” She emphasized that volunteer work with ARCS MWC is one of the most meaningful things they will ever do and it is extremely important to keep the United States at the forefront of science and engineering. Sandy said from firsthand knowledge that ARCS plays a significant role in making the Scholar Awards into a very personal part of the young scientists’ personal and professional development. The awards not only support them but also promote their ability to share important aspects of science and their research with people with little or no knowledge of science. Such communications skills are vitally important, especially today, since they allow nonscientists to feel a part of—and understand—the excitement of such scientific and engineering achievements!

Note: See below for information on Nikita Sivakumar, the Global Autoimmune Institute ARCS Scholar this year!

ARCS MWC is pleased to welcome our newest member, Lauri Rustand! Lauri is sponsored by Patty Sparrell, who has been a friend and neighbor for 18 years.

Lauri has a wide-ranging background in health care management with over 40+ years of experience in health systems, health industry associations, and physician group practice settings. Living in the Northern Virginia area for the past 30 years, she has most recently served as Vice President of Primary Care at Inova Health System, from where she retired in 2025. Prior to working at Inova, she spent many years in physician practice management, including having roles of Mid-Atlantic Market President for Privia Health, CEO of Fairfax Family Practice Centers, and CEO of The Cardiovascular Group (now known as Virginia Heart). Prior to moving to Northern Virginia, she held health system leadership roles at UCLA Medical Center and the Illinois Hospital Association. In this capacity, her responsibilities spanned financial and operational management, strategic business development, joint ventures, and managed healthcare contracting.

Lauri completed a Master’s in Business Administration from the Loyola University School of Business in Chicago and a BS Degree in Finance and Health Services Administration from the University of Nebraska.  

Lauri currently has many interests, which are wide-ranging and ever-evolving. While trying to stay current of general U.S. healthcare and political trends, she loves to travel around the world, with many adventures yet on her bucket list. She is also trying to spend more time on healthy eating, exercising, hiking, and learning more about our history, especially related to past civilizations, culture, and nature.

Lauri says that her desire to join ARCS comes from her continued desire to support science and engineering education. Both of her daughters are engineers and were supported by grants for their Master’s degrees. Lauri has attended two Eagle Events and our Mixology event in January. After learning about ARCS from Patty and meeting some of the members, she knows she will enjoy working alongside this group.

Nikita Sivakumar – Global Autoimmune Institute Scholar in Honor of Benjamin Kim, Esq and Amy Neuhardt, Esq

1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate, Biomedical Engineering, Computational Medicine

Johns Hopkins University

Research: My research aims to develop a computational model using machine learning and 3D time-lapse images to understand how distinct motility behaviors of B- and T-cells in mouse lymph nodes contribute to their interactions during immune responses to infection and vaccination.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

Our adaptive immune response plays a central role in fighting infection and responding to vaccinations that prevent disease. My research will uncover how the behaviors of two specialized immune cells, known as B-cells and T-cells, enable B-cell—T-cell interactions within lymph nodes during the adaptive immune response. These B-cell—T-cell interactions generate antibodies that can bind and eliminate foreign bodies with high affinity during infection or vaccination. 

Using experimental methods alone to systematically assess how cell motility and organization behaviors drive cell-cell interactions is challenging, because we cannot precisely perturb each of these variables to quantify their effect. To close this gap, I have built and validated a computational model that can simulate these cellular behaviors and directly predict how they influence cell-cell interactions. By pinpointing how specific B- and T-cell behaviors contribute to disease, my model can then inform the design of targeted interventions (therapies) to improve these disorders. Our computational platform is also versatile and can be adapted to study dynamic cellular systems beyond the immune system, such as cancer metastasis or wound-healing.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

An ARCS award will provide me with dedicated funding to get targeted feedback that can help validate my computational model and encourage its use across a wide variety of scientists. It will also provide me with support to travel to work directly with my collaborators at other institutions that generate state-of-the-art imaging data used to build and validate our computational models. In addition, an ARCS award would also enable me to present at more scientific conferences and receive meaningful feedback on my work from a broader range of audiences.

Career objectives: My long-term career goal is to lead a laboratory that builds and validates computational models to elucidate molecular and cellular mechanisms of disease. Mentoring students and teaching courses based on my research have been the most fulfilling parts of my PhD. A career in academia is particularly appealing to me because of the opportunity to combine my passions for scientific research and mentorship.

Alexander “Sasha” Frolov – Patsy Mote Memorial Scholar

1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate, Cybersecurity

University of Maryland

Research: I work in cryptography, which is the mathematical study of secure communication and computation. My research focuses on making cryptographic systems faster and more capable. I currently work with zero-knowledge proofs, which, at a high level, let users show that statements like “I have a valid Social Security Number” or “I am in Washington, DC” are true without actually revealing private data like their Social Security Number or location. 

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

Faster and more capable cryptographic systems are more likely to be used in practice, where they can keep people’s data private. For instance, while I worked at Meta, I helped build a system for monitoring usage of cryptography at the company. The system found many ways to improve the company’s security, and has helped improve the security of billions of users. My current work is more forward-looking. Better zero-knowledge proofs can help keep people’s data private in novel ways, and give people more control over their own data.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

Besides my having to teach less, an ARCS award would be beneficial by helping me pay for computer resources. For example, I have some project ideas that involve AI that require making thousands of requests to AI services. I’m also interested in projects that involve cluster computing (running code on hundreds of computers at once). These types of projects get expensive quickly and I would not normally be able to afford them.

Career objectives: I hope to return to industry research and help deploy advanced cryptographic technologies to billions of users.

Community Service, Contributions to DEI, Volunteer Work:

While at Meta, I participated in the Disability® resource group. One of the most meaningful things I did was talking to people with similar disabilities to mine about working at the company and helping them navigate starting a new job. In both Seattle and Washington, DC, I participated in their YIMBY organizations, which are groups that advocate for affordable housing and better transit. I have recently been participating in communities like ZK Hack, and PSE, which are communities where mostly non-academic people come to learn about my research area (zero knowledge proofs). Answering people’s questions and participating in discussions has been a fun way to grow our community and disseminate research.

Submit articles, pictures, pdfs, and website links by the 25th of each month for publication the following month to Helen Miller at mwcnewsletter@arcsfoundation.org. 

ARCS^® and its logo are registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

ARCS MCC

P.O. Box 60868

10221 River Road

Potomac, MD 20859-0868