Directory

I'm currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science in the Emotionally Intelligent Interfaces research group of the Computer Laboratory. My research focuses on applying affective computing and social robotics in an intervention for children with autism spectrum conditions. Specifically, I'm using a highly-realistic robotic head to facilitate emotion recognition from facial expressions. I love travelling and hiking, and am looking forward to another year of exploring the incredible trails in the UK and throughout Europe.

For many years, I have been fascinated by the physiology of the heart and have strived, through research, to better understand how this amazing organ works. As a member of the Giussani lab at Cambridge, I am studying how adverse conditions in fetal life may alter the development of the fetal heart and predispose it to disease in adulthood. A better understanding of this process will provide insight into the prevention of heart disease. I am fascinated by both this research and its potential applications. Heart disease is rapidly becoming a threat to health worldwide and in the future, I hope to contribute to the development of better, more efficient therapeutics for this devastating disease. Outside the lab, I am looking forward to playing music in Clare College, learning to row and meeting new people.

Links

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20068362

I'm a third-year medical student at Johns Hopkins, and ever since I started medical school I have been fascinated by ethical and anthropological aspects of medicine. In particular, I am interested in the transformation of medical students into doctors, changing historical concepts of the "professional code" of medicine, and how physicians and medical students can use narrative essay to reflect on emotionally intense or disturbing experiences. I am also curious about what happens to doctors who break the professional code, and about aspects of existing medical culture that may paradoxically make it more difficult for physicians to behave ethically. While at Cambridge I look forward to exploring these issues through the Department of Social Anthropology.

I am committed to integrating theoretical, empirical and advocacy work on punishment and incarceration in order to contribute to a more humane justice system. I will be researching adolescents’ perceptions of fairness and the legitimacy of power in youth prisons, focusing on how these perceptions impact adolescents' well-being while they are incarcerated. My goal is, as an academic, to examine the broader implications of social policy, but also to tell, through empirical research, the stories of those most affected by the social policy of crime and punishment.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge MPhil in Criminology 2007
Yale University 2001

During my undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Town, I specialized in Film Studies and History, the former of which is my principal passion, and the latter has been a keen interest since childhood. A key concern guiding my own filmmaking efforts, as well as my own academic research, is the question of how women filmmakers might begin to re-appropriate a technology that has historically excluded them. I am particularly interested in women’s filmmaking, material culture and African history, which I am currently exploring in Masters’ research at the University of Cambridge. In my PhD research, I aim to establish costume and material culture as an effective lens through which to re-evaluate postcolonial cinema and geopolitics, and, furthermore, to combat the marginalization of African women filmmakers in contemporary film studies. My future aspiration is to contribute to a transnational community of film exhibition and curatorship. I am thrilled to be a part of the Gates Cambridge initiative, and hope that my work will encourage unique, creative approaches to cultural studies both within and beyond the Global South.

Previous Education

University of Cape Town
University of Cambridge

I was born in Constanta, a town near the Black Sea in Romania. I graduated simultaneously in Chemical Engineering and Business Administration in Bucharest and I am currently enrolled in the international MSc. of Advanced Materials and Processes in Erlangen, Germany. Besides my studies I conducted two research projects and two internships in fields ranging from nanotechnology, biomaterials, chemistry and biophysics. I am inclined towards applying my knowledge for practical purposes to create devices that will improve human life. This year I will start my Phd. in the Nano Science & Technology Doctoral Training Centre in Cambridge. I am very excited to apply my knowledge, exploit my curiosity and improve my skill skills in an interdisciplinary environment in the field of nanosciences. My dream is to lead my own research group, working in collaboration with companies and hospitals to develop lab-on-a-chip devices for low cost diagnosis and tissue engineering applications.

Growing up on one of the most fertile river islands in Europe, surrounded by industrial-scale farms and greenhouses, I had the chance to witness the workings of the commercial agro-food sector firsthand. It seems everyone around me was incorporated within the agricultural apparatus in some shape or form. Childhood friends grew imported seedlings in high-tech hothouses; cousins gained employment as seasonal labourers; whilst older relatives regaled stories of unified agricultural cooperatives and lamented the loss of collective farms. Hearing these stories, it soon became apparent that any account of agricultural history or theory entailed noticing material relations and affective encounters - drawing humans, machinery, crops, chemicals, and animal beings into a complex fold. This observation led me to study both plant pathology and immunology in tandem with sociology and cultural studies, granting an intimate view into scientific knowledge production. During my PhD, I hope to examine the biopolitics of historical and contemporary seed banking initiatives, with special emphasis on patent laws and ownership structures surrounding wild landrace varieties. Additionally, I am also interested in anti-capitalist, non-institutional, and insurgent forms of agroscience. I am grateful to be a part of the Gates program and its interdisciplinary community of scholars.

Previous Education

University of Sydney Environmental Sociology 2020
University of Sydney Sociology, Cultural Studies 2017
University of Sydney Faculty Scholars Program 2017

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/zsuzsannaihar

While an undergraduate at the University of California, Irvine I have become fascinated with understanding the relationship between human health and disease, both at the population and molecular levels. As we arrive at the precipice of breakthroughs that will revolutionize how we mobilize the forces necessary to fight disease, I want to advance that process, actively aiming to not just treat cancer but also to understand it. I plan to combine my interest in cancer and the immune system to increase knowledge of how immunotherapies leverage the body’s natural defense mechanism and spur the development of personalized combination treatments. Perhaps the most striking place to make these discoveries is at the University of Cambridge working with Dr. Klaus Okkenhaug, where I will pursue an M. Phil in Biological Sciences. This opportunity builds upon my previous experiences working in the PI3K/mTOR field toward a deeper analysis of the molecular mechanisms that promote the formation of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). I hope my research will lead to a greater understanding of the mechanisms that influence the development of cancer and elucidate possible targeted therapeutics to combat the disease. As a future physician-scientist, I’m honored to join the diverse Gates Cambridge community and to work together towards improving the lives of others.

Previous Education

Saddleback College
University of California Irvine

My doctoral research at Cambridge University is in the rapidly advancing field of stem cell biology focussing on understanding the early stages of development of haematopoietic (blood) stem cells. My long-term career plan is to carry out clinically useful research and thus contribute significantly not only to science but also society at large.

My doctoral research is focused on integrating cognitive- and interpersonal-vulnerability models of depression amongst British adolescents. The study explores the validity of the relevant theories and the practical applicability of the adjacent therapeutic options for prevention and intervention of adolescent mental illness during times of significant transition. Preliminary results suggest the significance of rumination, stable attribution styles and parental support mechanisms. Qualitative data has highlighted the need for, and inadequacies of, current health promotion and maintenance strategies, and the potential for reformation of policy and practice. My career objectives are to gain further research and practical experience in the field of adolescent mental health so that I may progress towards establishing a best practice model for adolescent depression which is reflected in disseminated prevention and intervention strategies.

While Archimedes chose a lever and fulcrum, I would pick data and the right question. Properly directed analytics really can move the world. That’s why I so passionately believe in making vital data skills and tools available to everyone, whether you are starting from the beginning or seeking to take it to the next level. This passion is voiced in my analytic education and consultancy business, Merakinos. My goal with Merakinos is to advance how we use data, with a special focus on those people and organizations new to the analytics space. Together we can transform the world, one data-inspired decision at a time.

Links

https://www.merakinos.com
http://www.alexandraorion.wordpress.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandramannerings
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3323830

My Ph.D. explores the problem of trust in testimony from a psychological perspective that foregrounds unconscious motivation. Broadly speaking, I am interested in the intersection of ethics and epistemology.

I graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2006 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and recently completed specialty training in Endocrinology. The MPhil in Clinical Science (Translational Medicine) provides me with the opportunity to explore the process of developing new therapies and technologies from their scientific origins at the bench top into daily clinical practice. My research will focus on the use of new technology for pregnant women with Type 1 Diabetes. In the future, I hope to be able to contribute to advancing the care of patients with diabetes and obesity, twin medical conditions that are growing exponentially and resulting in significant ill health and wellbeing.

After growing up in San Francisco, California, I moved not very far away to go to UC Berkeley, where I studied Comparative Literature and French. At Berkeley, I developed a particular interest in early medieval literature, and I am delighted to continue this course of study at Cambridge. My research looks at the use and literary potential of the catalogue form in Old English, Old Norse, and medieval Celtic poetry. I also have an ongoing interest in French language, literature, and landscape: I spent my junior year abroad studying and Alp-gazing in Grenoble, and I just got back from another year in France -- this time teaching English in Cherbourg.

My work explores the emergence of an alternative geography of trade, focusing on giants Brazil and India and the capacity of large developing nations to realize south-south economic integration. This Southerner hails from Atlanta, trade terminus, pecan and hip-hop hub. Experience spans work in international agencies, public schools, radio journalism, international legal research and municipal administration. I hope through my doctorate studies to illuminate trends in economic development.

I am a researcher, psychologist, and educator passionate about fostering safe, sensitive and playful conditions for learning. I studied Psychology in UCA, Nicaragua and later an MPhil in Psychology and Education at the University of Cambridge with a Chevening scholarship. I have worked as a teacher, therapist, researcher and implementer of educational projects in Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. Coming from the Nicaraguan permanent state of emergency, I am confident in the transformative power of education and play to promote collective wellbeing and lasting peace. Instead of a deficit narrative regarding children in emergencies, my research proposal aims to acknowledge the creative ways in which children facing adversity use play. In the midst of pain, play sneaks in to offer not only a moment of joy, but agency over the narrative, control over the uncontrollable. Play offers the possibility to practice the strategies that allow children to overcome the adversity from which we have unjustly failed to protect them.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Psychology and Education 2021
Universidad Centroamericana Psychology 2019