Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Introducing 2025 Astronaut Scholars Arianna McCarty and Samuel Ruzzene from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Arianna is pursuing a degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering, and her work in the Clark Lab explores interactions between respiratory pathogens and the airway microbiome. Primarily, Arianna is seeking to understand the role of Prevotella bacteria in reducing infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae, a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia. By harnessing these interactions, she aims to identify new approaches to treating respiratory infection and inflammation!
Samuel is earning a degree in Integrative Physiology and has worked in Dr. DeSouza's Integrative Vascular Biology Laboratory for more than two years, contributing to a variety of in vivo and in vitro experiments examining the effects of aging, cardiovascular, and metabolic risk factors on vascular endothelial cells.
The University of Colorado Boulder Astronaut Scholar Awards are sponsored by Steve & Jill Wirth, In Memory of Scott Carpenter and Founders for the Future, an ASF program made possible by a grant from Club for the Future.
Introducing 2025 Astronaut Scholars Arianna McCarty and Samuel Ruzzene from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Arianna is pursuing a degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering, and her work in the Clark Lab explores interactions between respiratory pathogens and the airway microbiome. Primarily, Arianna is seeking to understand the role of Prevotella bacteria in reducing infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae, a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia. By harnessing these interactions, she aims to identify new approaches to treating respiratory infection and inflammation!
Samuel is earning a degree in Integrative Physiology and has worked in Dr. DeSouza's Integrative Vascular Biology Laboratory for more than two years, contributing to a variety of in vivo and in vitro experiments examining the effects of aging, cardiovascular, and metabolic risk factors on vascular endothelial cells.
The University of Colorado Boulder Astronaut Scholar Awards are sponsored by Steve & Jill Wirth, In Memory of Scott Carpenter and Founders for the Future, an ASF program made possible by a grant from Club for the Future.
