The Department of Bioengineering is proud to announce that Donovan A. Argueta, graduate of the Bioengineering Interdepartmental Graduate (BIG) Ph.D. program, has been selected as a University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Argueta completed his Ph.D. in 2019 under the direction of Dr. Nicholas V. DiPatrizio in the Division of Biomedical Science in the School of Medicine. His Ph.D. research was focused on understanding the peripheral endocannabinoid's control feeding in diet-induced obesity. He previously received a Ford Foundation Fellowship in 2018.  He obtained a B.S. in Bioengineering from California Lutheran University in 2014.

Since July, 2019, Dr. Argueta has been a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of Dr. Kalpna Gupta in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. His research is focused on targeting mechanisms of pain in sickle cell disease.

The UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship was established in 1984 to encourage outstanding women and minority Ph.D. recipients to pursue academic careers at the University of California. Besides funding postdoctoral research, the program will support the salary of the fellow if they are hired as a faculty member in the University of California system. Since 2003, over 100 former fellows have received faculty appointments at UC campuses. For more information on the UCPPF, please visit the program website.