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Current Scholars

Current Scholars

Current Scholars

Generous Donors Contributed $5.9 Million to Support 360 Scholars Since 2005

For 2022-2023 our Chapter is supporting a record number of 86 scholars at OHSU, OSU, and UO. 

ARCS Foundation Oregon is honored to present awards to these outstanding scholars chosen by the scholar selection committees at Oregon Health & Science University,  Oregon State University and the University of Oregon.

The ARCS Foundation Scholar Award is $18,000, payable over three years at $6,000 per year.

Meet our 2018-2019 ARCS Scholars
Photo courtesy of Andie Petkus
Third Year Scholars
Ashley Anderson
  • The OHSU School of Medicine Scholar Award
  • Given by Sharon Anderson
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Program in Biomedical Sciences
  • Research interest: Ashley's research focuses on understanding how tumor cells metastasize and how their presence in the blood can be used as a biomarker for disease progression and response to therapy for patients with colorectal cancer.
Teva Bracha
  • The Julie & Bill Headley and Adrianne & Lee Peterson Scholar Award
  • Given by Julie & Bill Headley and Adrianne & Lee Peterson
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Neuroscience Graduate Program
  • Research interest: Teva studies how neurons in the retina develop subtype specific morphologies needed for visual function.
Karleigh Bradbury
  • The Susan and William Smith Family Trust Scholar Award
  • Given by Susan & Bill Smith
  • UO, Department of Human Physiology
  • Research interest: Karleigh studies the influence of exercise and various environmental stressors on cardiopulmonary physiology. 
Lena Breuer
  • The Walsh Construction Co. Scholar Award
  • Given by Walsh Construction Co.
  • OSU, College of Engineering - Civil and Construction Engineering
  • Research interest: Lena develops novel transportation network designs in the passenger car driving simulator and runs experiments using eye-tracker and GSR equipment to study human behavior in terms of visual perception and cognitive processes.
Amy Chan
  • The Joan & Bill Bailey Scholar Award
  • Given by Joan & Bill Bailey
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Behavioral Neuroscience Graduate Program
  • Research interest: Amy is using a mouse-model to study the neural circuitry changes that occur following binge-like alcohol consumption.
Kayla Clements
  • The Christiansen Family Trust Scholar Award
  • Given by Christiansen Family Trust
  • OSU, College of Engineering - Nuclear Science and Engineering
  • Research interest: Kayla is developing uncertainty quantification methods for stochastic Monte Carlo radiation transport problems, which may then be applied to a host of stochastic radiation problems.
Nick D'Antona
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • UO, Department of Chemistry
  • Research interest: Nick is studying the kinetics and mechanism of ion transfer at the liquid/liquid interface, which will aid in understanding fundamental aspects of battery operation and performance
Kim Engeln
  • The Fairway Fund ARCS Endowed Scholar Award
  • Given by Susan & George Swindells
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Neuroscience Graduate Program
  • Research interest: Kim studies the pathological neuronal plasticity triggered by withdrawal from chronic opioid use that leads to long lasting drug cravings and relapse.
Amy Glen
  • The Ashford/Jarvis Scholar Award
  • Given by Meleah & Scott Ashford and Anne & Peter Jarvis
  • OSU, College of Engineering - Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • Research interest: Amy's research is focused on data integration and edge prediction in biomedical knowledge graphs with the aim of advancing translational reasoning efforts such as drug repurposing.
Krista Habing
  • The Wallace & Elizabeth Preble Scholar Award
  • Given by Bettsy & Wally Preble
  • OHSU, School of Medcine - Biomedical Engineering
  • Research interest: Through two projects, Krista's work is improving our understanding of muscle healing by investigating the relationships between cardiovascular disease and age related muscle loss along with the impairment of healing that is seen in concurrent bone-muscle injuries.
Felisha Imholt
  • The Jill V. Josselyn Endowed Scholar Award in Science
  • Given by the Jill V. Josselyn Estate
  • OSU, College of Science - Biochemistry & Biophysics
  • Research interest: Felisha studies the ferlin family of proteins in order to better understand how these proteins contribute to deafness and muscular dystrophy.
Jordan Jimmie
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Agricultural Sciences -Biological & Ecological Engineering
  • Research interest: Jordan is constructing a groundwater hydrogeologic model to simulate an aquifer recharge project on the Toppenish Creek watershed in the Yakima Nation; to understand the flow benefits for culturally significant migratory fish.
Shanjida Khan
  • The Wayne & Julie Drinkward Scholar Award
  • Given by Julie & Wayne Drinkward
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Biomedical Engineering
  • Research interest: Shanjida's work involves developing high-resolution retinal imaging systems that utilizes a non-invasive imaging technique, optical coherence tomography (OCT), to monitor eye health in clinical research.
Lindsay Millward
  • The Sue Hitselberger & Pat Reser Scholar Award
  • Given by Sue Hitselberger & Pat Reser
  • OSU, College of Agricultural Sciences - Fisheries & Wildlife
  • Research interest: Lindsay studies how movement, behavior, and nutrition impact disease transmission and risks in desert bighorn sheep in the Mojave desert. 
Michelle Ozaki
  • The Bechen Family Foundation Scholar Award
  • Given by Missy & Peter Bechen through Bechen Family Foundation
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Moelcular & Cellular Biosciences
  • Research interest: Michelle studies the role of fibroblasts in liver metastatic spread in postpartum breast cancer.
Kalika Pai
  • The Jill V. Josselyn/UO/ARCS Foundation Oregon Univerity Matched Endowment
  • Given by Jill V. Josselyn Estate
  • UO, Department of Chemistry
  • Research interest: Kalika is using single molecule fluorescence techniques to study the structure and dynamics of heart-specific long noncoding RNAs that are involved in conditions involving cardiac stress.
Gilia Patterson
  • The UO Biology Scholar Award
  • Given by Anonymous Donor
  • UO, Department of Biology
  • Research interest: Gilia develops mathematical models and simulations to understand how populations of organisms and the genetic variation within them are distributed across a landscape and how the distribution changes over many generations.
Margaret Redick
  • The Thomas J. Hammond Scholar Award
  • Given by Cheryl Hammond
  • OSU, College of Pharmacy - Medicinal Chemistry
  • Research interest: Margaret is studying deep sea methane seeps as sources of biologically active natural products.
Bryce Rogers
  • The Jean & Richard Josephson/OSU/ARCS Foundation Oregon Univerity Matched Endowment
  • Given by Jean & Richard Josephson
  • OSU, College of Engineering - Biological Engineering
  • Research interest: Bryce is coding and characterizing models of human vision and speech perception, in order to better understand the underlying neuropsychology of those phenomena.
Diana Ruggiero
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by the ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Agricultural Sciences - Botany & Plant Pathology
  • Research interest: Diana is researching how the genetic pathways of plant vascular development underpin the anatomical machinery of different forms of photosynthesis.
Michael Sieler
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by the ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Science - Microbiology
  • Research interest: Michael is investigating the underlying mechanisms of how the gut microbiome mediates its host's health.
Kyle Smith
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by the ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Science - Chemistry
  • Research interest: Kyle studies metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for sensing applications including the detection of drugs and pollutants.
Brooklyne Thompson
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by the ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Engineering - Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Research interest: Brooklyne studies the effect of electronic metal-support interactions on catalytic behavior.
Olivia Williams
  • The Elisabeth & Peter Lyon Scholar Award
  • Given by Elisabeth & Peter Lyon
  • OSU, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences - Geology
  • Research interest: Olivia studies noble gases in ice cores, which may be used to identify past melting events and thus track past climate change. 
Second Year Scholars
Sarah Beethe
  • The Meigs Family Scholar Award
  • Given by Laurie McDonald Meigs
  • OSU, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science - Geology
  • Research interest: Hot spot volcanism, large igneous provinces, isotope geochemistry, mantle plum dynamics, and plate tectonics
Clara Bird
  • The Norb & Ann Wellman Scholar Award
  • Given by Christine Whipple Farrington & Carl Farrington
  • OSU, College of Agricultural Sciences - Marine Mammal Institute
  • Research interest: Using drones to study the behavioral ecology and health of gray whales foraging off the Oregon coast
Michael Branco-Katcher
  • The Kathleen Ames ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowment
  • Given by Kathleen & Robert Ames
  • OSU College of Engineering - Nuclear Science & Engineering
  • Research interest: Radiation transport through materials, and material radiation interactions
Rand Burnette
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Science - Physics
  • Research interest: Large scale physics such as cosmology, dark matter, dark energy and general relativity
Erwin Cornelius
  • The Bergen/Kern Scholar Award
  • Given by Marilyn Bergen & Mary Kristen Tooze Kern
  • OSU, College of Science - Mathematics
  • Research Interest: Machine learning methods, in particular random forests and neural networks and their applications to biological data
William Crow
  • The Jill V. Josselyn Endowed Scholar
  • Given by Jill V. Josselyn
  • UO, Department of Biology
  • Research interest: Developmental and cellular biology
Grace Diehl
  • The Ogg Family ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowment
  • Given by Caron & Larry Ogg
  • OSU, College of Engineering - Mechanical, Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering
  • Research interest: To develop a coalition formation algorithm that will scale to robotic collectives
Aaron Eisen
  • The Giesy Family ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowed Fund
  • Given by Barbara Giesy
  • OHSU, School of Nursing
  • Research interest: Exploration of self-regulation in the context of health behaviors through interactions between our environment, biology, and behaviors to support disadvantaged populations
Deanna Flynn
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Engineering - Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
  • Research interest: Autonomous and creative problem solving, and cognitive robots
Haylie Helms
  • The Hewitt Family ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowed Fund
  • Given by Sharon & Henry Hewitt
  • OHSU, School of Medicine -Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
  • Research interest: Cardiovascular tissue engineering/regenerative
Jaquan High
  • The Sally & Jerry Fish and Elise McClure Scholar Award
  • Given by Sally & Jerry Fish and Elise McClure
  • OSU, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences - Geology
  • Research interest: Benthic biota-sediment interactions, sediment biogeochemistry, aboveground-belowground interactions, community assemblages, bioturbation and bioirrigation
Melanie Kascoutas
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • UO, Department of Chemistry
  • Research interest: Organic chemistry and organometallics
Lucas Kolanz
  • The Beth Ray ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowment
  • Given by Edward J. Ray
  • OSU, College of Science - Physics
  • Research Interest: Computational physics, “Atomic, Molecular, and Optical” physics, biophysics, condensed matter theory and astrophysics
Tetiana Korzun
  • The Karen Irons Medicis Memorial Scholar Award
  • Given by Diane & Dick Alexander
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
  • Research interest: Immune metabolomics, nanotechnology and nanomedicine for cancer treatment
Milana Krush
  • The Ogg/Harrison Scholar Award
  • Given by Lara Ogg and Janis & Bob Harrison
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Neuroscience Graduate Program
  • Research interest: Neuroplasticity, traumatic brain injury recovery, and neurodegenerative disorders
Hillary Le
  • The Branford/Gordon Scholar Award
  • Given by Julie Branford and Diana & Steve Gordon
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
  • Research interest: The role of the endocannabinoid system in cardiovascular dysfunction
Mason Lyons
  • The Emmerson Family ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowment
  • Given by Ann & Ron Emmerson
  • OSU, College of Engineering - Chemical, Biological & Environmental Engineering
  • Research interest: Battery technology with focus in sustainable materials
Madelyn McAndrew
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • UO, Department of Biology
  • Research interest: The neural processing of sensory systems, particularly the auditory system
Noah Milman
  • The Silver Family ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Fund
  • Given by Barbara & Philip Silver
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience Graduate Program
  • Research interest: Modifiable risk factors in development and neurodegeneration, specifically chronic stress in development and sleep in late adulthood and Alzheimer’s disease
Marin Miner
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon 10th Anniversary OHSU Scholar Award Endowed Fund
  • Given by ARCS Oregon Members
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences
  • Research interest: Intestinal epithelial diseases, IBD, IBS, microbial host interactions, specifically in the human gut
Kayla Nguyễn
  • The Dyess Family ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowed Fund
  • Given by Kirby & Carl Dyess
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences
  • Research interest: Immuno-oncology research
Sunni Patton
  • The Jill V. Josselyn Endowed Scholar Award
  • Given by Jill V. Josselyn
  • OSU, College of Science - Microbiology
  • Research interest: Coral microbiomes to better understand the effects of environmental and anthropogenic stressors
Kate Rivera
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU College of Engineering - Mechanical, Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering
  • Research interest: Development and integration of energy storage technologies to increase the reliability and competitiveness of current renewable energy systems
Rachel Robinson
  • The Kenda and Ken Singer ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowment
  • Given by Kenda & Ken Singer
  • UO, Department of Human Physiology
  • Research interest: Biomechanical risk factors of running-related injury to inform injury prevention and develop best practices for injury management
Nicole Sagui
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Award
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • UO, Department of Chemistry
  • Research interest: Electrochemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, sustainable fuels
Sabena Siddiqui
  • The Sheila & Mike Goodwin ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowment
  • Given by Sheila & Mike Goodwin
  • OSU, College of Agricultural Sciences - Marine Mammal Institute
  • Research interest: Animal communication, bioacoustics, marine mammal science and conservation
Hannah Stuwe
  • The Bangsund Scholar Award
  • Given by Lynne & David Bangsund
  • OSU, College of Science - Chemistry & Biophysics
  • Research interest: Protein biophysics, nuclear magnetic resonance, organic synthesis, and natural product chemistry
Jed Syrenne
  • The Ogg Family ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowed Fund
  • Given by Caron & Larry Ogg
  • OHSU, School of Medicine - Neuroscience Graduate Program
  • Research interest:  The structure/function relationship of ion channels
First Year Scholars
Nathan Anderson
  • The Anonymous/UO Endowment Scholar
  • Given by an Anonymous Donor
  • UO, Department of Biology
  • Research interest: The developmental factors that contribute to the onset and disease process of neurodegenerative illnesses.
Darcey Ayala
  • The Foley/Jarnberg and Joseph/Murray Scholar
  • Given by Joan Foley & Per Jarnberg and Kate Joseph & Tom Murray
  • OHSU, School of Nursing
  • Research interest: Resilience engineering and concept-based learning for nurses transferring from one nursing specialty to another.
Jasmine Collins
  • The Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Award
  • Given by Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation
  • UO, Department of Chemistry
  • Research interest: Biochemistry and Medicinal Chemistry.
Victoria Duke
  • The Richardson Family/OHSU Endowment Scholar
  • Given by Ellen Richardson
  • OHSU, School of Medicine
  • Research interest: Biomaterials and Bioinformatic approaches to clinically relevant musculoskeletal diseases.
Ellen Dymit
  • The Silver Scholar Fund Scholar
  • Given by Barbara & Philip Silver
  • OSU, College of Agricultural Sciences. Wildlife Sciences
  • Research interest: Studying rare and elusive wildlife using non-invasive genetic methods.
Mizan Gaillard
  • The Fairway Fund/OHSU Endowment Scholar
  • Given by Susan H. Swindells
  • OHSU, School of Medicine, Behavorial & Systems Neuroscience
  • Research interest: Neuroimaging to understand brain development in health and disease, especially as it relates to development of psychopathology and changes during adolescence.
Taryn Gibbs
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregpon Chapter Scholar
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon members
  • OSU, College of Science, Nuclear Science & Engineering
  • Research interest: Environmental remediation.
Kristen Goebel
  • The Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Scholar
  • Given by Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation
  • OSU, College of Engineering, Computer Science
  • Research interest: Applications of artificial intelligence.
Krista Harrington
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Agricultural Sciences, Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Sciences
  • Research interest: Political ecology, fisheries, climate resilience, water resource management, food systems.
Mackenzie Kawahara
  • The Jill V. Josselyn Endowed Scholar
  • OSU, College of Science, Microbiology
  • Research interest: Coral reef microbiology.
Hayley Kuhn
  • The Vaux Scholar
  • Given by Missy Vaux Hall
  • OHSU, School Medicine
  • Research interest: Maladaptive behaviors related to addiction and other neurological diseases.
Jacqueline Laddusaw
  • The Mary Martin Rosenberg Endowed Scholar
  • OSU, College of Science, Chemistry
  • Research interest: Computational and organic chemistry, including green chemistry and pharmaceuticals.
Andrew Lee
  • The Anderson Family/UO Endowment Scholar
  • Given by Jamie & Mike Anderson
  • UO, Department of Chemistry
  • Research interest: Air-sensitive inorganic/organometallic chemistry organometallic complex stabilation by carbenes.
Sarah Louie
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU,College of Science, Biochemistry & Biophysics
  • Research interest: Understanding how the regulation of molecular and biochemical/physical interactions can lead to disease states.
Mikkel Louis
  • The Ogg/OSU Endowment Scholar
  • Given by Caron & Larry Ogg
  • OSU, College of Earth, Ocean, & Atmospheric Sciences
  • Research interest: Volcanoes, igneous petrology, geochemistry, eruptive processes.
Jared "Nalu" Martin
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Agricultural Sciences, Environmental and Molecular Toxicology
  • Research interest: Standardizing toxicity through chemical structure.
Katherine McCool
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Forestry
  • Research interest: Post-fire soil and water processes and ecosystem recovery.
Amina Meselhe
  • The Sally & Cecil Drinkward Scholar
  • Given by Sally A. Drinkward
  • OSU, College of Engineering, Civil and Constructive Engineeering
  • Research interest: Natural hazards research with a focus on modeling of community risks and impacts.
Samantha Moellmer
  • The Yoo Scholar
  • Given by Anne & Jung Yoo
  • OHSU, School of Medicine, Biomedical Engineering
  • Research interest: Cardiovascular engineering, regenerative medicine.
Luke Nearhood
  • The ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Science, Physics
  • Research interest: Physics education, computational physics, quantum cosmology, quantum fundamentals complex networks.
Nnamdi Nwagwa
  • The Gretchen & Jeff Sturm Scholar
  • Given by Gretchen & Jeff Sturm
  • OSU, College of Engineering, Mechanical, Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering
  • Research interest: Non-verbal robotic expression, applications of soft robotics in human-robot interaction.
Zachary Papich
  • The Lynn & Steve Pratt Scholar
  • Given by Lynn & Steve Pratt
  • OHSU, School of Medicine, Neuroscience Graduate Program
  • Research interest: The neurobiology of mental illness.
Jordan Rodriguez
  • The Fairway Fund/UO Endowment Scholar
  • UO, Department of Biology
  • Research interest: Biodiversity informatics (methods and tools development), population genetics, and community ecology studies that aid present day conservation efforts.
Erin Santos
  • The Ragen, Nugent, Haigwood Scholar
  • Given by Lee & Ron Ragen, Sharon & Mike Nugent and Nancy Haigwood
  • OHSU, School of Medicine, Neuroscience Graduate Program
  • Research interest: Glial biology, neuron-glial interactions as well as glial-glial interactions.
Katie Stelling
  • The Anderson Family/OSU Endowment Scholar
  • Given by Jamie & Mike Anderson
  • OSU, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Research interest: Paleoclimatology, micropaleontology, paleoceanography and ice-ocean interactions.
Grace Su
  • The Mary Ann Lockwood Memorial Scholar
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OHSU, School of Medicine, Program in Biomedical Sciences
  • Research interest: Researching rare genetic diseases and potential treatments for rare genetic diseases, specifically gene therapy.
Karlie Wiese
  • The 10th Anniversary/OSU Endowment Scholar
  • Given by ARCS Foundation Oregon Members
  • OSU, College of Science, Department of Chemistry
  • Research interest: Environmental applications of inorganic chemistry as well as chemical education research.
K. Jane Van Gunst
  • The Sue & Bernie McGrath/OSU Endowment Scholar
  • Given by Sue & Bernie McGrath
  • OSU, College of Science
  • Research interest: Conservation biology, particularly in the Great Basin, metapopulation dynamics, extinction processes and histroical ecology.
Sofia Vignolo
  • The Jarnberg Family & Gray Family/OHSU Endowment Scholar
  • Given by Joan Foley & Per-Olof Jarnberg and Jane & Joe Gray
  • OHSU School of Medicine, MD/PhD Program
  • Research interest: Tissue engineering and fabrication of biomaterials for bone regeneration and further understanding mineralized tissues at the nanascale.
David Xthona Lee
  • The Schnitzer CARE Foundation Scholar
  • Given by Jordan Schnitzer
  • OHSU, School of Medicine, Program in Biomedical Sciences
  • Research interest: Structure and mechanisms of aggregation in the eye lens.
  • Sunil Joshi, ARCS Scholar at OHSU, Receives Soros Fellowship
    Sunil Joshi is the first at OHSU to receive the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship Award. The fellowship supports outstanding immigrants and children of immigrants who are pursuing a graduate education in the United States. Sunil's research interest covers intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms of drug resistance in the setting of acute myeloid leukemia. He works with Brian J. Druker, MD, a world-recognized expert in cancer.
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