Page 9 - October 2026 Insider

INSIDER October 2026

ARCS Scholars & Scholar Alumni Making Headlines... Page 9
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Hearty congratulations to Hannah Battey (2026-2027 ARCS Scholar,
UCSD) on being named a SPARK finalist! The SPARK Program at the La
Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) provides early-career seed funding and
science communication training for rising immunologists. Hannah’s project
aims to transform the future of pneumonia diagnosis and treatment by
developing a simple blood test to identify the specific bacterial cause of
infections. She will pitch her concept live to a panel of LJI leaders, board
members, and donors for a chance to secure a $30,000 philanthropically
funded SPARK Award. Learn more about Hannah’s SPARK project here:
https://www.lji.org/spark27-hannah/

Congratulations to Jessica Wan, PhD (2023-2025, UCSD) for her joint
authorship of a recent paper in the journal Science Advances. The paper
cites a new study by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography
which explores whether a geoengineering technique known as marine
cloud brightening could safely alter the weather in order to mitigate the
floods, extreme heat and other events that El Niño would bring. With a
super El Niño looming, the study takes on even greater importance.

Jessica received ARCS support from 2023-25 while a PhD candidate at
UC San Diego. She is now a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Climate
Systems Engineering Initiative (CSEi) at the University of Chicago. To learn more about the
study, click here: https://today.ucsd.edu/story/could-geoengineering-work-to-tamp-down-
super-el-ninos

Adriana Trujillo, PhD (2018-2020, SDSU) shared this sad news regarding
fellow ARCS Scholar alum Brian Maniaci, PhD (2017-2020, SDSU):

Dear members of the ARCS community,

It is with great sadness to share the passing of ARCS alumnus Dr. Brian
Joseph Maniaci on Friday, June 19, at the age of 39, following a
courageous three-year battle with glioblastoma.
Brian earned his PhD in Chemistry in 2019 through the SDSU–UCSD Joint
Doctoral Program, where he conducted research in Dr. John Love's lab.
During his time as an ARCS Scholar, Brian’s research focused on engineering protein/protein
interactions to treat human diseases. Prior to his diagnosis, he worked as a Scientist II at
Molecular Assemblies.
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