2025-2026 Phoenix Board

President: Sydney Fox Fund Development VP: Marilyn Hayes Membership VP: Libby Crouch University Relations VPs: ASU - Judy LeMarr, NAU - Denise Belt, UA - Janet Castner Recording Secretary: Laura Martin Treasurer: Anna Maria Matteucci Corresponding Secretary: Sophann Schleifer President-Elect: Andrea Mosely

Above: Photos from the 2025 April Awards Dinner

Dear ARCS Members and Supporters,

Happy Spring!

This year marks our 50th Annual Awards Dinner Celebration. We look forward to seeing you all on Friday, April 24th at the Adobe Bar and Grille Ballroom. Dr. Robert and Mrs. Nancy Spetzler will be our Honorary Chairs for this special event. Paulette Dalke and Dawn Senger and their fabulous committee have worked tirelessly to make this a special event for all. Thanks to the incredible leadership of our Vice Presidents of University Relations, Denise Belt, Janet Castner, and Judy LeMarr along with their committees, we will recognize 54 Scholars. In addition, we will honor our 25+ year members of the ARCS Phoenix Chapter.

Please also mark your calendar for Monday, May 4, for the ARCS Annual Meeting, Luncheon, and Installation of Officers at Vincent’s Market Bistro. Registration begins at 10:45 a.m., followed by the meeting at 11:00 a.m. and luncheon at 12:00 p.m. Guests are warmly welcome—please feel free to bring a friend.

It is with heartfelt sadness that we share the passing of our beloved member, Sandra Matteucci, on February 18, 2026. Sandra embraced the ARCS mission with generosity, grace, and an open heart. Since 2001, she proudly supported twenty-eight scholars—each one a reflection of her deep belief in the power of education and discovery.

Sandra and her husband, Ralph, shared a profound commitment to ARCS and to the next generation of scholars. In 2003, she established an endowment in Ralph’s name, which has grown significantly over the years—a meaningful testament to their enduring dedication and thoughtful stewardship. Through her vision and generosity, Sandra’s legacy lives on in every scholar supported and in those yet to come—a lasting tribute to a life devoted to opportunity, curiosity, and the advancement of science.

Our dear friend and member, Jennifer Sands passed away on February 6th after a valiant battle with cancer. Betty Van Denburgh invited Jennifer to join ARCS in 2013, beginning a meaningful connection to the organization. A lover of Western art, Jennifer was closely tied to her family’s Trailside Galleries, reflecting a deep appreciation for culture and community. Since 2020, Jennifer and her husband, Charles, have generously sponsored ARCS scholars. Thank you, Charles, for your dedication to continuing a legacy of support for scientific excellence.

Chartered in 1975, this past year marks the 50th anniversary of our Phoenix ARCS chapter. As we celebrate this milestone year, we are reminded that it is the strength of this community—your generosity, dedication, and shared belief in our mission—that makes everything we do possible. Thank you for being such an important part of ARCS and for helping us continue to support and inspire the next generation of scholars.

With love and gratitude,

Sydney Fox
President, ARCS Foundation Phoenix Chapter

Below left: Jennifer Sands (photo credit)
Below right: Sandra Matteucci (photo credit: Anna Maria Matteucci)

ARCS National is excited to share the next virtual event titled "Women and Children's Heart Health" on April 14 at 12 PM EST. Register here. 

On March 9, ARCS National also launched a National Scholar Award Program to expand ARCS support in regions not currently served by ARCS chapters. The initiative will begin with a three-year pilot at up to three select universities. Read more about this announcement here.

ARCS Sparks was awarded this year to Lara Ogg, from the Oregon chapter. From Joan Foley, nominator: Lara has been the lead, working with Philanthropy Co-VPs Andrea Thoreson and Joan Foley, in recruiting the first Development Director for ARCS National. Lara’s 20-plus years of experience in HR executive search guided the extensive fielding of applications and interview process. Lara, with her mother Caron Ogg, created comprehensive onboarding documents to facilitate a successful launch for Monica Mizzi, ARCS National’s 1st Development Director. Thank you so much, Lara!

STUDENT:  Dilara Long, UA

Dilara is an MD-PhD student and the ARCS Margaret "Peg" Moseley Scholar. Below, she shares her research in the Tissue Optics Lab, lead by Dr. Jennifer Barton.

This spring, I will complete my PhD training in Biomedical Engineering. Our lab uses high resolution imaging, called optical coherence tomography (OCT), to visualize tissue microstructure beneath the surface, with the goal of detecting early, subtle changes associated with health and disease. We develop miniature optical endoscopes to noninvasively access and “optically biopsy” difficult-to-reach organs, like the fallopian tubes, to support earlier detection of devastating diseases such as ovarian cancer, which is often not diagnosed until it has already reached a late stage.

Early in my PhD, I assisted in our first in-human pilot trial testing the safety and feasibility of fallopian tube imaging using our lab-built falloposcopes. While helping to navigate our endoscopes through the fallopian tubes, I experienced firsthand how tiny, tortuous, and contractile they are – it was nothing like what we see in the textbooks. After reviewing the literature, I was surprised by how little we know about them in humans, despite the fact that nearly every human embryo passes through them at the earliest stage of development.

The role of the fallopian tubes is remarkably complex. They facilitate the meetup of the egg and sperm during fertilization, and transport the early embryo from the ovary to the uterus, all within a tightly regulated hormonal environment, place, and time. The back and forth beating of tiny hair-like epithelial structures called cilia sweep cells and fluids through the lumen, while the surrounding smooth muscle helps stir, pump, and temporarily store contents until the timing is right. Impairments in either smooth muscle structure or cilia function are implicated in common yet devastating conditions like infertility and endometriosis, but we know very little about them fundamentally.

For my dissertation, I used OCT imaging to reveal the small-scale structure and function of the human fallopian tubes. Much of my work has focused on developing image processing methods to extract quantitative, diagnostically meaningful information may help us better understand normal biology and physiology, and eventually serve as markers of disease. To study structure, I mapped the organization of smooth muscle collagen in the proximal fallopian tube. To study function, I measured the motion of cilia in the distal fallopian tube. Together, these projects are an effort to provide a more complete picture of how the fallopian tubes are designed, how they work, and how they may be altered in disease. In the long term, our goal is to translate these approaches to the clinic by developing new, tailored falloposcopes.

Kimberly C. Olney, Ph.D., has a unique perspective on the impact of ARCS—she experienced it firsthand as a Spetzler Scholar for three years before becoming an official member in 2021. Motivated by a desire to support the next generation of scientists as she was once supported, she transitioned from scholar to advocate. Since then, she has actively contributed to the organization, serving on both the University Relations and Member Relations committees.

A true native of Arizona, Kimberly has deep roots in the state. Her professional life is dedicated to the forefront of medical research. Currently, she works as a Computational Scientist at The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Her research examines the complexities of the brain, focusing on inflammation, sex differences, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Lewy body disease. Her career reflects the high-level scientific progress that ARCS strives to promote.

Outside the lab, Kimberly shares her life with her husband, Jason Kennedy, an engineer and small business owner. While her professional world often involves analyzing data and genomic sequences, her personal time is devoted to nurturing the local environment. She is passionate about the outdoors and the community benefits of nature, and she frequently spends her free time gardening or participating in neighborhood tree programs.

From being a scholar whose academic career was "significantly propelled" by ARCS to now helping guide the organization's future, Kimberly truly embodies ARCS’s mission in every way.

All ARCS members are welcome to all events! Look for registration links in your email and bring a friend! 

April 6 - Board meeting and social at the home of Anna Maria Matteucci

April 24 - Annual Scholar Awards Dinner - register here

May 4 - Board meeting, installation of new board members, and luncheon at Vincent's Bistro. This meeting will feature Keila Soto Espinoza as our guest speaker, a current UA ARCS Scholar. Email invitation to come.

10:45 am registration, noon luncheon

June 2 - Board meeting and luncheon at the home of Dawn Senger

MARCH
8 Vianne Kucera
10 Marcia Jobe
10 Laura Martin
16 Sandra Kennedy
23 Joan Jugloff

APRIL
3 Janet Castner
5 Andrea Moseley
7 Julie Bowe-Berry
7 Kathey Plenge
14 Patty Berens
17 Carolyn Evani
21 Elaine Karcher

MAY
13 Anne Kunkel
23 Karen Hobbs
29 Hansa Magee

JUNE
5 Diana Alexander
21 Pat Elder

NAU scholar Nicholas Link, the 2026-2027 Magee and Martin Scholar, published a first-author paper in January on his research mitigating wildfires in the boreal forests of western North America. Read the paper here.

Below: Nick conducting field work for his research

ARCS Alumni? We want to connect with you!
To all of our esteemed ARCS Alumni, we cordially invite you to our 50th Annual ARCS Awards Dinner Celebration, where we will have a special recognition for attending Alumni. Please Save the Date for Friday, April 24, 2026 at the Arizona Biltmore Adobe Ballroom. More information with a registration link will be sent in the coming months.

For Alumni residing in the Phoenix area, we welcome you to speak at our local meetings, and for Alumni to become ARCS members. Reach out to phoenix@arcsfoundation.org for additional information.

For Alumni wishing to further the mission of ARCS through future ARCS Scholars, donations to ARCS can be made on our website https://www.arcsfoundation.org/ by clicking "Ways to Give." If you would like to fund a named scholar award (full or half award), please reach out to us. Thank you for your generosity.

SHARE WITH US

Scholars - did you recently publish an article? Present at a conference? Spend a month doing field work? We want to hear about it! Please share with us by emailing hansa.magee@gmail.com - we want to feature you in a future newsletter!

OUR MISSION

ARCS Foundation advances science and technology in the United States by providing financial awards to academically outstanding United States citizens studying to complete degrees in science, engineering and medical research.

OUR IMPACT

Since 1975, the Phoenix Chapter has committed more than $9 million to fund 1,365 Scholar Awards at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and The University of Arizona.

ARCS Foundation Phoenix (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists)
3104 East Camelback Road, PMB 975
Phoenix, AZ 85016
phoenix@arcsfoundation.org

a 501(c)(3) Non-profit Corporation
Tax ID: 86-0319947

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