2024

Dec 5: Holiday Party, 6-9 pm, home of Holly Coyne, RSVP here

2025

Feb 9: Winter Membership Meeting Luncheon, Ruth's Chris Steakouse, Fairfax

Feb 27: Senior Members Afternoon Tea, home of Julie Hohl

Apr 4: Eagle Award Gala, Army Navy Club

May 15: Annual Membership Potluck Luncheon Meeting, Location TBD

Jun 8: Picnic/Barbeque, home of Patty Sparrell

Dear ARCS MWC Members,

We were proud to recognize our 2024-2025 scholars and learn about the amazing work they are doing at this year's SAR. Equally, we were privileged to welcome Dr. Kunal Parikh, an ARCS MWC scholar alum, as our featured speaker. Special kudos to Jane Riddle and her planning team for the organization of the evening’s festivities.

The holidays are not far off and now we are all excited about celebrating our chapter and friends at the Holiday Party hosted by Holly Coyne. Mark your calendar for Dec 5 at 6 pm. Tickets are on sale now and going fast!

As presidents, it is gratifying to see the continued growth in membership and member involvement. We appreciate all of your contributions and sharing of your time and talents.

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

The 55th annual ARCS MWC Scholar Awards Reception (SAR) on Oct 17 was a stellar event! Held once again in the inspiring Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences, the event celebrated and honored the twenty-one 2024-25 MWC Scholars. The Scholars first attended a pre-reception generously underwritten by the University of Virginia and networked with each other and with past ARCS Scholar Alums! Then, over 100 enthusiastic attendees—members, family, friends, donors, Scholar Alums, and our university partners—attended the event reception and poster session, exploring the cutting edge research being conducted by each ARCS MWC Scholar. 

A special welcome was given to the large group of Wakefield High School attendees, hosted by Charlotte Knight and our newest MWC member, Hilary Sparrell, a Physics teacher at Wakefield. We envision a day when we’ll all be applauding them as ARCS Scholars in the future!

Dr. Kunal Parikh, MWC Scholar Alum, was the 2024 SAR keynote speaker. Dr. Parikh is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the divisions of Glaucoma and Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute and in the Center for Bioengineering Innovation & Design in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His lab has a specific focus on the elimination of avoidable blindness globally and has partnered with the world’s largest eye care systems to systematically identify major, unmet eye care needs; develop solutions tailored to the needs of patients and providers; and distribute impactful innovations in an affordable and accessible manner. 

Dr. Parikh gave an insightful and enthralling presentation illustrating how he used his ARCS MWC/Roche funding to focus on giving back to underserved populations, and he encouraged the Scholars to always make a difference in their lives and in their work. 

Special thanks are given to Jane Riddle, Chair of the ARCS MWC SAR Committee, and her enthusiastic team: Sarah Doverspike, Miriam Erickson, Karen Finkbiner, Michelle Francis, Julie Hohl, Karen Magley, Elli Nesbitt, Melissa Rhoads-Simpson, Mary Jo Ruane, Patty Sparrell, Anne Wingo and Lubna Zahir!

Come join in the fun at the ARCS MWC Holiday Party on Thurs, Dec 5, from 6 to 9 pm. Holly and Jim Coyne will again host this festive evening in their beautiful McLean, VA home at 1007 Turkey Run Road. Valet parking will be available.

Celebrate the season with this joyful evening! Sip a glass of wine while enjoying passed appetizers, a sumptuous buffet, and a variety of desserts with coffee, made by Mindy‘s Catering.

Bring friends and family to celebrate another fantastic year of ARCS activities while we look forward to a wonderful 2025! Seating is limited, so click here to register early. See you there!

Holiday Party 2023 (l-r): Sharon Gross, Mark Mykityshyn and Amy Mykityshyn.

Holiday Party 2023 (l-r): Elli Nesbit, Charlotte Knight, Patty Sparrell and Julie Hohl.

As the holidays approach one of the most meaningful ways to embrace the spirit of the season is through Giving Tuesday—a global day dedicated to giving back. Giving Tuesday, celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, was established in 2012 to encourage individuals and communities to come together to support causes that matter. This year, on Dec 3, please consider making a difference by donating to ARCS. This is also a great time to reach out to your family and friends asking them to consider ARCS when participating in Giving Tuesday. 

You can donate via a check payable to ARCS-MWC or Zelle, a free and electronic payment method. Check with your bank if Zelle is available, then send payment to:  

Recipient email: mwctreasurer@arcsfoundation.org 

Purpose: Giving Tuesday 

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Margaret Shanklin (Margie) became an ARCS MWC member in 1985. We thank Margie for her long involvement with the chapter and her many contributions to ARCS MWC over the last 39 years!

Margie was sponsored by Maureen Martin. She met Maureen through the “McLean Newcomers,” an organization for new McLean residents, and they became good friends. Margie introduced Maureen to “THIS for Diplomats,” the diplomatic hospitality group with which Margie volunteered, and Maureen introduced Margie to ARCS. 

Margie calls ARCS MWC “a wonderful group,” adding that it resonates with her on so many levels. She likes supporting the emerging scientists and engineers, particularly the aerospace engineers. Also, ARCS Foundation was started in Los Angeles after the launch of Sputnik by a group of wives of TRW Inc. employees and, when Margie met her future husband, Richard, in LA, he was working at TRW. Margie and Richard were married a year after TRW moved Richard back to McLean. Richard was very involved in science and engineering (in addition to TRW, Richard also worked for Synthetic Fuels and the Department of Energy) so ARCS MWC was a great fit for both of them. 

Margie says that there are many wonderful ladies in the chapter with fascinating backgrounds. She was on the Board for about four years in her role of VP of Field Trips (as the Activities Council was called in the 1990s), organizing about 6 field trips each year with her committee’s members.  

The field trips she organized are among her proudest achievements! Four examples of field trips she planned were: (1) touring Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and seeing the Abrams tanks, followed by a luncheon hosted by the wife of the head of the base; (2) a tour of the Navy’s David Taylor Model Basin, where research was conducted on ship design; (3) a tour of Naval Air Station Patuxent River; and (4) a tour of an air traffic control tower. Spouses often joined ARCS MWC members on these field trips. 

Margie says to the new ARCS MWC members that, as with the original founders of ARCS, this is your chance to support our American science and engineering students who contribute so much to American innovation! She says that anyone who joins ARCS MWC makes an amazing network of friends, including many women who are outstanding in their fields. She added that ARCS MWC members are incredibly intelligent and lots of fun! 

Helen Miller joined ARCS MWC in September and is sponsored by Michelle Francis. She greatly enjoyed her first SAR event last month and looks forward to getting to know the ARCS community!

Helen earned a BA in French Language and Literature from Davidson College in 1988. Following college, she gravitated to Washington, DC, and worked in health policy for several years, including with The Jackson Hole Group during the health care reform efforts of the Clinton Administration. She then headed to Dartmouth College, where she earned an MS degree in the Evaluative Clinical Sciences in 1996. Helen worked with Johns Hopkins Medicine in health research and analysis before joining a cancer disease management company based in Tysons Corner (now part of Optum Health). Helen left that company in 2014 to focus on her family. Working in health policy and health research furthered Helen’s interest in health issues, medicine, and STEM in general.

Helen met her husband, Glenn Miller, in the Washington, DC area and they married in 1999. They moved to McLean in 2001, where they have since lived and raised their three children. She has long been an active volunteer in the community and at her children’s schools. She gravitated to communications roles, including five years editing the Franklin Sherman Elementary School PTA newsletter and managing the transition to a digital format, and seven years as a Langley eNewsletter team member. Over the years with the Langley eNews, Helen worked with both Jane Riddle and Michelle Francis. 

Helen’s other volunteer roles included three years on the Franklin Sherman Elementary School PTA Board, parent coordinator of the Cooper Middle School Spelling Bee for five years, and various roles with the Cooper, Langley, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) band parents, including communications and fundraising for the TJ and Langley Bands.

Helen met Julie Hohl when they both had children first at Cooper Middle School and then at Langley. For at least a year or two, Julie, Michelle and Jane have mentioned ARCS to Helen, and with her youngest daughter’s graduation from high school (photo), it was a perfect time to get involved with ARCS. The timing also coincided with ARCS MWC looking for a new editor for the eNews!

Tyler Horoho – Mars Foundation Scholar

1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate, Physics

University of Virginia

Research: The research goal involves testing next-generation particle detector instrumentation, and using machine learning techniques, along with data from particle accelerators, to probe open questions in cosmology and particle physics such as the nature of dark matter and the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the early universe.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

The experiments I work on aim to answer some of the biggest unsolved problems in physics: the nature of dark matter and why there was so much more matter than antimatter in the early universe. Elucidating these things will give us a better understanding of the history of our universe. Beyond this, the technology and analysis methods in my research are broadly applicable. The development of machine learning techniques for the Light Dark Matter eXperiment (LDMX) and NOvA, specifically related to the application of neural networks, are also used in finance, healthcare, and defense. In addition, the instrumentation I am testing for Mu2e is also used for muography, a non-invasive technique to 3D image structures using cosmic-ray muons. This made headlines in the last year for imaging a hidden chamber in one of the Great Pyramids, and it is expected to be used on other ancient structures as well as on volcanoes

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research? 

The ARCS award would benefit my research in multiple ways. One experiment I work on, LDMX, will soon begin construction at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, and an ARCS award would help fund a trip to SLAC so I could be involved in the effort to collect data and receive invaluable hands-on training for my career as a scientist. The award would also be used to fund a more in-depth study of a machine learning model used to classify signal-like events in a long-lived particle search for LDMX. This would allow me to work with and mentor undergraduate students interested in machine learning and particle physics.

Career objectives: After my PhD I want to continue to do particle physics research in a national lab or university setting. I am particularly interested in a role in which I can mentor students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds in physics.

Emily Powsner – MWC Chapter Scholar

1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate, Bioengineering

University of Maryland

Research: Rapid healing of chronic wounds continues to be a challenge. This research works towards improving the therapeutic potency and production of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that can be used as lower-risk alternatives to regenerative cell therapies. This work will help improve the biomanufacturing potential and contribute to the goal of clinical translation of EV therapies; chronic wound healing being one area of application.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

The potential applications of the potent pro-angiogenic mesenchymal stem cell extracellular vesicles (MSC EVs) produced are crucial and widespread. For instance, the leading cause of death globally is cardiovascular disease and MSC EVs have been shown to be effective in reducing infarct size, providing protection from ischemic injury by promoting vascularization, minimizing fibrosis, and overall improving cardiac repair and function. Additionally, MSC EVs hold great promise for chronic, non-healing wounds, which affect an estimated 7 million people in the US, a number expected to only increase as the population ages. However, despite demonstrated efficacy in such applications, numerous challenges including a lack of both potency and scalable manufacturing platforms, have prevented successful clinical translation and FDA approval of EV therapies. My research will help provide solutions for current limitations, ultimately promoting the clinical translation of potent EV therapeutics for regenerative medicine.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

With the support of an ARCS award, I will be able to hone my skills as an independent researcher and mentor. I will be able to expand my knowledge and understanding of cardiovascular diseases and the ways in which my research can be applied to such pathologies, as well as gain insight into my work from different perspectives. Additionally, I will be able to put more of my effort into mentoring undergraduate students in the lab who have inspiring goals of their own including medical and graduate school.

Career objectives: Upon graduating, I hope to achieve my professional goal of a career in biotechnology, specifically fabricating accessible biotherapeutics. It takes an entire team of collaborators to solve a societal healthcare problem, and I am excited to be a part of the solution.

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.