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BRISTOL, R.I. – Before transferring to bet365 apps from the Community College of Rhode Island in 2022, Dennis Arruda wanted to ensure the degree he wanted to pursue could be realized.

“Neuroscience didn’t exist before I asked for it, so I met with faculty before becoming a student to see if I could design and get approval for a Neuroscience major,” Arruda said.

Arruda, who had been working at the Upper Commons Dining Hall, was eligible to receive free tuition in the university’s Tuition Remission Program for employees and knew he wanted to take advantage of a one-of-a-kind opportunity to continue his education. He grew up in Bristol and Warren and knew RWU offered small class sizes and student-teacher ratios that enabled strong connections and mentorship from faculty. “Faculty support is essential to student success and I found plenty of support as an RWU student,” he said.

Arruda credited Professor of Politics and International Relations Joseph Roberts and Associate Professor of Neuroscience Victoria Heimer-McGinn with helping to create the specialized degree and guiding him through it on his journey to commencement. Heimer-McGinn, a neuroscientist whose areas of expertise include molecular, behavioral, and cognitive neuroscience, partnered most closely with Arruda to develop the degree: an interdisciplinary major that combines Psychology, Biology, and Chemistry programs. “She’s been a key supporter through my educational journey,” he said.

Neuroscience held a special interest for Arruda both because of a desire to understand how the brain works and due to his experience with a family tragedy. “My younger brother had brain damage and died due to a lack of oxygen to his brain,” he said. “I wanted to understand how that happened and if it was possible to prevent it.”

Once he earned acceptance and his major was approved, the real work began. His first semester was challenging. He struggled with math and chemistry, and said that the RWU Tutoring Center helped him significantly improve his performance in the courses. “I improved my grades in every course for which I received tutoring,” he said.

Through his program, he was able to conduct research and participate in academic-focused extracurricular activities, while also juggling the workload of a full-time student and full-time work. He received funding from RWU to travel to conferences to present his research, including at the ’s annual event in 2024, where he shared what he learned about a possible relationship between calcium deposits and bipolar disorder.

He was also a member of the , a student organization that traveled to local schools and taught kids about the brain, and helped Heimer-McGinn with the annual Brain Waves RI events in which he staged Brain Fairs, a joint project with area institutions that featured educational events and fun activities. “It’s important to educate kids about the brain and its function,” he said.

As he nears graduation in May, Arruda has some exciting next steps ahead of him. In addition to being accepted into a neuroscience doctoral program at University of Texas – Galveston, he has been named a finalist for a  to conduct research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

His research interests will continue to be aimed at finding ways to repair and bring back functioning in the brain, in honor of his brother. “I want to focus on regenerative neuroscience, which would let me study how a brain might regain cognitive function – molecular neuroscience, or synaptic plasticity.”

Asked what he’d tell himself as a first-year student having learned what he knows now, Arruda said there is value in pursuing challenges and offered this advice. “Find a mentor and annoy them. They’ll help you identify the path you want and what you need to stay on it.”