October 10, 2024
By Mikey Fuller

Gianna Slusher, a graduate student in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has been selected to receive an Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar Award.

The prestigious fellowship recognizes outstanding doctoral students who have a record of past achievement and show exceptional promise of making a significant contribution to the worldwide advancement of science and technology. As an ARCS Scholar, Slusher will receive $7,500 for three years from ARCS Foundation Atlanta to propel STEM research.

Slusher says she is incredibly grateful to receive this award. “I hope it will ease financial stress during the rest of my Ph.D. program and open up opportunities to network and engage more with the Atlanta science community."

As a bioengineering Ph.D. student, Slusher works in the fields of mechanical engineering and biology at nanoscale. She is working on developing technologies that will enhance the manufacturing and monitoring of cell-based therapeutics, which have become transformative therapies for cancer treatment and other diseases.

Her goal while earning her Ph.D., Slusher says, is to develop a system capable of isolating extracellular vesicles from cell media, sorting them into size-distinct groups, and rapidly characterizing them using in-line mass spectrometry analysis. She is advised by Andrei Fedorov, who serves as associate chair for graduate studies, professor, Rae S. and Frank H. Neely Chair,  and Regents' Entrepreneur in the Woodruff School.

Slusher received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering degree in 2022 from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, where she focused on health technologies between mechanical engineering and biosciences. She worked on large-scale biomechanics problems and researched injury biomechanics resulting from vehicle collisions. She also developed an orthotic device for an individual with limited mobility in the hand/wrist.

ARCS Scholar Awards are made possible each year by way of the fundraising and support of the ARCS-Atlanta Foundation. Their goal is to support outstanding scholars in Georgia, whose research may lead to advances in science, engineering, and medical research to benefit society and enhance the overall quality of life.

Since its inception in 1992, the ARCS Foundation Atlanta has awarded more than $4.5 million to over 400 science scholars at Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse College, and the University of Georgia. 

A scholars award ceremony will be held in November to honor Slusher and the other Atlanta chapter’s recipients.