ARCS Oregon scholar Sofia Vignolo started her day on October 29 doing experiments in her lab at OHSU. By dinnertime she was on stage, speaking to a room of over 360 people about the importance of science research and support for budding STEM scientists like herself.  

Vignolo is one of 90 graduate students currently receiving financial support from ARCS Oregon, with the mission to advance science by encouraging those starting their careers in various fields of science, engineering, math and medicine. 

The roomful of attendees at the Portland Art Museum warmly welcomed Vignolo and the other graduate students, and generously donated money for future scholar awards and the work of ARCS Oregon Foundation.  

Long time ARCS member Julie Drinkward and her husband Wayne kicked off the generous support by announcing an endowment to fund an ARCS scholar in perpetuity. “This particular endowment that we have funded will be available to all three Oregon universities, rotating between them as appropriate,” Julie said.  

Julie and Wayne Drinkward were co-chairs of the event, and along with Hoffman Construction were headline sponsors. 

The emphasis on science was clear as dozens of third year scholars explained their research to attendees via posters – touching on topics from the Cascadia Subduction Zone to forest soils to robotics to biomedical engineering.  

Guests included current ARCS scholars from OHSU, OSU, and UO, along with ARCS members, community supporters, corporate sponsors, and university faculty. 

Guest speaker Ira Flatow of Public Radio International’s long running “Science Friday” program (and a podcast by the same name) emphasized the importance of explaining science to the public.  

Scholar speaker Vignolo’s research at OHSU is focused on bone regeneration, particularly for craniofacial surgery. She is pursuing an MD/PhD.  

Other scholar speakers were: 

Nathan Anderson, who is focused at UO on factors that contribute to neurodegenerative illnesses, including multiple sclerosis. He is working towards his PhD in biology.  

Sarah Caballero, whose research at OSU aims to protect vineyard grapes from the devastating effects of wildfire smoke. She is working towards her PhD in Food Science and Technology.  

Hillary Le, studying the effects of cannabis on cardiovascular health at OHSU, was the event’s master of ceremonies.  

Visit the ARCS Oregon Foundation website to donate and to view video highlights from the event. Click HERE.