Grad Student Named ARCS Scholar

Sept. 30, 2015 - Graduate student Dominique Ingato, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, recently was named a 2015-17 UC Irvine ARCS Scholar. The award, supported by the UCI chapter of the National ARCS Foundation, includes a stipend of $7,500, which will be renewed next year contingent upon continued satisfactory academic progress. Ingato, also a current NSF Graduate Research Fellow, was one of five UCI students to receive the award this year.

Ingato, whose adviser is Professor Young Jik Kwon, researches nanotheranostics – the use of nanotechnology to integrate diagnostic and therapeutic function into one system. "My research aims to harness the human immune system to fight off cancer in a way that specifically targets cancer cells and does not result in undesirable side effects," she said, adding that she hopes to generate nano-sized particles from natural killer cells that will maintain the same targeted killing properties as the original cells. "My current research is focused on testing whether these natural killer cell particles can effectively kill cancer cells in petri dishes."

The National Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation is a nonprofit, national volunteer organization of women who contribute to the advancement of science and technology by providing scholarships to academically outstanding U.S. citizens studying to complete their degrees in science, medicine and engineering. Since its founding in 1958, the foundation has awarded more than $91 million to more than 9,000 academically superior scholars at major U.S. universities who exhibit outstanding promise as scientists, researchers and leaders. For Ingato, the funds mean more opportunities to share her research with others. "The stipend will allow me to attend conferences and interact with leading researchers in my field. This will be extremely important in helping me to develop as a scientist," she said.

-- Anna Lynn Spitzer