The Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation Portland Chapter presented checks to 30 students enrolled in the School of Medicine Graduate Studies Program at its annual lunch on October 20.  The $6,000 unrestricted awards are given to scholars for each of three years, pending satisfactory completion of course requirements. 

Guest speaker Art Riddle, a candidate in the MD/PhD program, presented his research on "Brain Injury in Survivors of Premature Birth" to the audience of well over 150 donors, scholars and program supporters.  His research, which focuses on the role of hyaluronic acid in cell repair, seeks to establish a way that damaged brain cells can repair themselves more effectively. 

The ARCS Foundation Portland Chapter has supported a total of 54 scholars in OHSU programs since its founding in 2005, pledging a total of $789,500. 

Click here to read about Ravi Iyer, one of the newest scholars in the scholarship program, who was recently profiled in the September 2009 issue of the Dean's Newsletter.

Photo: The ARCS Scholars receive their checks.