People

Sean Collins

Sean Collins

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2012 PhD Materials Science
  • Trinity College

In 2012, I completed a dual degree program at the University of Michigan in chemistry and piano performance. While at Michigan, I led research in the preparation of nanostructured semiconductor films for solar energy conversion applications. I have also worked on projects developing new processing methods for semiconductor purification. Since graduating, I have worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA), conducting research on the role of atmospheric aerosols in climate change. I am currently working on my PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgy at Cambridge with a focus on electron microscopy and spectroscopy. By visualizing materials and their properties at length scales approaching individual atoms my work serves to understand fundamental properties of light-matter interactions. These fundamental relationships underpin advances in a variety of technology areas from chemical and biological sensing to information technology applications. Throughout my career, I hope to lead research aimed at understanding the chemistry and physics of materials in climate science and renewable energy.

Patrons

In 2012, Bill and Melinda Gates generously agreed to become Patrons of the Gates Cambridge Trust. The Trust is delighted to reinforce a direct link between the Gates Cambridge Scholarships and the Gates family.

Melinda French Gates

  • Co-chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Melinda French Gates

Melinda French Gates

  • Co-chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

As co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates shapes and approves the foundation’s strategies, reviews results, and sets the organization’s overall direction. Photo credit: Jason Bell

Bill Gates

  • Co-chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill Gates

Bill Gates

  • Co-chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

As co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates shapes and approves foundation strategies, advocates for the foundation’s issues, and sets the organization’s overall direction. Photo credit: Gates Notes LLC

Trustees

The Gates Cambridge Board brings together ten distinguished Trustees from a range of backgrounds. Two Trustees are appointed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the others by the University of Cambridge. Trustees meet twice a year to provide strategic direction for the programme. A summary of the declarations of interests for Trustees and senior staff is available here.

Professor Deborah Prentice

  • Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (Chair)
Professor Deborah Prentice

Professor Deborah Prentice

  • Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (Chair)

Professor Deborah Prentice became the University of Cambridge’s 347th Vice-Chancellor on 1 July 2023. An eminent psychologist, Professor Prentice carried out her academic and administrative career at Princeton University, which she first joined in 1988. She rose through the academic ranks and took on administrative responsibilities of increasing scope, chairing the Department of Psychology for 12 years, serving as Dean of Faculty for three years, and then serving six years as Provost, with primary responsibility for all academic, budgetary, and long-term planning issues. Her academic expertise is in the study of social norms that govern human behaviour – particularly the impact and development of unwritten rules and conventions, and how people respond to breaches of those rules. She has edited three academic volumes and published more than 50 articles and chapters, and she has specialised in the study of domestic violence, alcohol abuse and gender stereotypes.

Timothy Harvey-Samuel

  • Bursar of Trinity Hall, Cambridge (Honorary Treasurer)
Timothy Harvey-Samuel

Timothy Harvey-Samuel

  • Bursar of Trinity Hall, Cambridge (Honorary Treasurer)

Tim Harvey-Samuel graduated in English from Queens' in 1987 and has been Bursar of Trinity Hall since March 2020, prior to which he was Bursar of Corpus Christi College for six years. He also lectures for the Master of Finance programme at the Judge Business School. He spent 26 years in investment banking, mainly at Schroders and Citigroup where he led the Equity Capital Markets business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Amy K Carter

  • Director, Community Engagement & Family Interest Grants Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Amy K Carter

Amy K Carter

  • Director, Community Engagement & Family Interest Grants Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Amy is the Director of Community Engagement & Family Interest Grants at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington. In this role Amy manages the personal giving of the Gates family. Amy has worked at the Foundation for nearly 20 years, holding various positions including: Program Officer, Global Health (Family Planning & Reproductive Health), Special Program Officer to CEO Patty Stonesifer, and Program Officer for Special Initiatives, US Program. Prior professional experience includes: the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Population Program); Planned Parenthood Federation of America; and the Echoing Green Foundation. Amy received her BA from Mount Holyoke College (with Honors) and a MPH from Columbia University with a focus on Population and Family Health. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.

Dame Sally Davies GCB, DBE, FRS, FMedSci

  • Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance and former Chief Medical Officer for England
Dame Sally Davies  GCB, DBE, FRS, FMedSci

Dame Sally Davies GCB, DBE, FRS, FMedSci

  • Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance and former Chief Medical Officer for England

Dame Sally Davies was installed as the 40th Master of Trinity College on 8 October 2019. She joined the College after a distinguished career as a clinical academic and public servant. Dame Sally graduated from Manchester Medical School in 1972 and became a Consultant Haematologist specialising in sickle cell disease. In 1997 she was appointed as Honorary Professor of Haemoglobinopathies at Imperial College. Dame Sally was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health from 2004-2016. In 2006 she founded the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and was the Inaugural Director. In 2013 she established and became a Non-Executive Director of Genomics England Ltd (GEL) which sequenced 100,000 whole genomes of NHS patients. Dame Sally was the Chief Medical Officer for England and Senior Medical Advisor to the UK Government from 2011-2019. She authorised 11 independent annual reports and 3 special reports: Medical Cannabis, Screen Times for Children and Obesity in Childhood. She has become a leading figure in global health including serving as a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board 2014-2016 and as co-convener of the United Nations Inter-Agency Co-ordination Group (IACG) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) reporting in 2019. She has championed the need to address AMR across all sections: human and animal health, agriculture and environment within the UN family and globally. In 2019 Dame Sally was appointed as the UK Government’s Special Envoy for Global AMR. Dame Sally received her DBE in 2009. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2014 and a member of the National Academy of Medicine, USA in 2015. She has been awarded more than 30 honorary doctorate degrees.

Dr Mimi Gates

  • Trustee Emerita. Former Director of the Seattle Art Museum and Yale University Art Gallery
Dr Mimi Gates

Dr Mimi Gates

  • Trustee Emerita. Former Director of the Seattle Art Museum and Yale University Art Gallery

Mimi Gardner Gates was director of the Seattle Art Museum for fifteen years and is now director emerita, overseeing the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas. Previously, she spent nineteen years at Yale University Art Gallery, the last seven-and-a-half of those years as director. She is a fellow of the Yale Corporation; Chairman of the Dunhuang Foundation; Chairman of the Blakemore Foundation; a trustee of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum; a trustee of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, and serves on the boards of the Yale University Art Gallery, the Northwest African American Museum, the Terra Foundation and Copper Canyon Press. Dr. Gates formerly chaired the National Indemnity Program at the National Endowment for the Arts and served on the Getty Leadership Institute Advisory Committee.

Professor Usha Goswami CBE FRS FBA

  • Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge. Founding Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education.
Professor Usha Goswami CBE FRS FBA

Professor Usha Goswami CBE FRS FBA

  • Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge. Founding Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education.

Usha Goswami CBE FRS FBA is Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge. She is also founding Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education. After training as a primary school teacher, Usha decided to pursue research in child psychology, focusing on reading development and dyslexia. Most recently, she has been studying the neural mechanisms underpinning language encoding. Her research goal is to understand the brain basis of dyslexia and speech and language difficulties, to improve children’s experience of both diagnosis and remediation. She has received a number of awards for her research, including the British Psychology Society’s Spearman Medal and President’s Award and the Norman Geschwind-Rodin Prize for Dyslexia research, Sweden. Her work in developing the new discipline of neuroscience in education was recognised in 2019 by the Yidan Prize for Education Research, the largest international education research prize globally.

Dr Jonathan Holloway

  • President of Rutgers University
Dr Jonathan Holloway

Dr Jonathan Holloway

  • President of Rutgers University

Jonathan Holloway, who was appointed the 21st president of Rutgers in 2020, is an eminent historian specializing in post-emancipation United States history with a focus on social and intellectual history. Dr. Holloway is the author of several books, most recently The Cause of Freedom: A Concise History of African Americans, published last year. Prior to accepting the presidency of Rutgers, Dr. Holloway was provost of Northwestern University from 2017 to 2020 and a member of the faculty of Yale University from 1999 to 2017. At Yale, he served as Dean of Yale College and the Edmund S. Morgan Professor of African American Studies, History, and American Studies. He earned his bachelor’s degree with honors in American studies from Stanford University and a PhD in history from Yale University. Dr. Holloway serves on several boards, including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the Gates Cambridge Trust, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is a Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr Julia Li

  • Co-Founder & CEO, Micrographia Bio; Gates Cambridge Scholar (2008 - 2013)
Dr Julia Li

Dr Julia Li

  • Co-Founder & CEO, Micrographia Bio; Gates Cambridge Scholar (2008 - 2013)

Julia completed a PhD Engineering in 2012, which focused on innovative financing solutions for global health. Stemming from her PhD research at Gates Cambridge, she originated, raised and deployed the world's first $108mm Global Health Investment Fund with Lion's Head Global Partners and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of the fund was to provide financing to advance the development of drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other interventions against diseases that disproportionately burden low-income countries. Before coming to Cambridge, Julia qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG's Canadian biotechnology practice and undertook projects for a variety of organisations including GAVI and WHO. During her time in Cambridge, Julia co-founded the African Innovation Prize, served on the University Council, and initiated and convened the Cambridge Global Health Commercialization and Funding Roundtable. Julia is currently based in London's White City biomedical campus as Co-Founder & CEO of Micrographia Bio, a deeptech bio company focused on applying machine learning to bioimaging to accelerate drug discovery.

Professor Bhaskar Vira

  • Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at University of Cambridge; Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Professor Bhaskar Vira

Professor Bhaskar Vira

  • Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at University of Cambridge; Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

Professor Bhaskar Vira, FAcSS, is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, and Professor of Political Economy at the Department of Geography, a Fellow of Fitzwilliam Colleage, and an Honorary Fellow of St John's College. Trained as an economist, Bhaskar's research focuses on the political economy of land-use and landscape level strategies, water use and management, forest management, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services and human well-being, with a specific focus on South Asia. He works with a number of PhD students and early career researchers on his broad interests in the political economy of environment and development, and has collaborations with colleagues in both academic and non-academic institutions in South Asia and around the world. He is currently leading a major initiative on Decent Work and Youth Livelihoods. He has led large scale applied research projects that involve interdisciplinary conversations across the natural and social services, and contributes regularly to policy advisory processes across the science-policy interface.

Lord Simon Woolley Kt

  • Principal, Homerton College, Cambridge and Crossbencher in the House of Lords
Lord Simon Woolley Kt

Lord Simon Woolley Kt

  • Principal, Homerton College, Cambridge and Crossbencher in the House of Lords

Lord Simon Woolley is the Founding Director of Operation Black Vote, the internationally renowned campaigning NGO which he launched in 1996. OBV works with ethnic minorities in the UK to increase understanding of civic society, participation in Parliament and public life, and to promote equality and human rights. Formerly an Equality and Human Rights Commissioner, in 2018 Lord Woolley was appointed by Prime Minister Theresa May to create and lead the UK Government’s pioneering Race Disparity Unit. The Unit collects, analyses and publishes data on how crime, education and health are affected by ethnicity. Fostered and then adopted as a small child, Lord Woolley grew up on a council estate in Leicester, and left school without A-levels. He later returned to formal study via an access course and gained a BA in Spanish and English Literature at Middlesex University and an MA in Hispanic Studies at Queen Mary University of London. He is passionate about educational access and the importance of recognising and supporting marginalised potential. Lord Woolley has a track record of addressing representational imbalances, transforming institutions, and nurturing individuals. His cross-party and cross-sector work with Operation Black Vote has seen the number of MPs from black and minority ethnic backgrounds rise from 4 to 65 over the past two decades. In collaboration with Magdalen College, Oxford, he has been instrumental in the development of Pathway to Success, a programme designed to equip future BME leaders with the tools and knowledge required for senior leadership. Repeatedly recognised in the Black Powerlist, Lord Woolley is dedicated to promoting opportunity for underrepresented communities and individuals, and to building consensus across political and community lines. Simon Woolley was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2019 and was created a life peer in December of the same year. He sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Westminster in 2012. He is a regular contributor to newspapers nationally and internationally on topics relating to equality, diversity and social justice.

Officers & Staff

A small team, headed by the Provost, is responsible for managing the Gates Cambridge Scholarships programme.

Professor Eilis Ferran FBA

  • Provost (Officer)
  • Professor of Company and Securities Law at the University of Cambridge, and the Tom Ivory Professorial Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge
Professor Eilis Ferran FBA

Professor Eilis Ferran FBA

  • Provost (Officer)
  • Professor of Company and Securities Law at the University of Cambridge, and the Tom Ivory Professorial Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge

Professor Eilís Ferran, FBA PhD is Professor of Company and Securities Law at the University of Cambridge, and the Tom Ivory Professorial Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Eilís has written extensively on UK, EU and international financial regulation, company law and corporate finance law. Her publications include Brexit and Financial Services (Hart Publishing, 2018 (co-authored), The Oxford Handbook of Financial Regulation (OUP, 2015, co-edited) Principles of Corporate Finance Law (OUP, 2014, co-authored) and The Regulatory Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (CUP 2012, co-authored). She has advised UK Parliamentary committees and served as an academic member of the Stakeholder Group of the European Banking Authority. She is a non-executive director of Euroclear SA/NV and is the Chair of its Nominations and Governance Committee. Eilís is a Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple. Between 2012 and 2015 she served as Chair of the Law Faculty. Between 2015 and 2021 she was the University's Pro Vice Chancellor for Institutional and International Relations. In that role, she was the academic strategic lead for staff and for significant international partnerships, led the modernisation of career paths, oversaw the University's response as an employer to COVID-19, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Strategic Partnerships Office.

Dr Jade Tran

  • Director of Finance (Officer)
Dr Jade Tran

Dr Jade Tran

  • Director of Finance (Officer)

Jade is the Director of Finance at Gates Cambridge. She is responsible for the Trust’s financial and investment functions and is part of the Trust’s senior management team. Prior to joining the Trust, she served as Finance Manager for Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, having previously been Finance Business Partner at the British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council. Jade is a chartered accountant and holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Dr Regina Sachers

  • Secretary to the Trustees (Officer)
  • The Secretary to Trustees is an honorary, unremunerated position. Dr Sachers is Director of Governance and Compliance, at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Regina Sachers

Dr Regina Sachers

  • Secretary to the Trustees (Officer)
  • The Secretary to Trustees is an honorary, unremunerated position. Dr Sachers is Director of Governance and Compliance, at the University of Cambridge.

Director of Governance and Compliance, University of Cambridge

Jim Smith

  • Programme Director
  • Senior Member of Wolfson College, Cambridge and Trustee of Jimmy's Cambridge
Jim Smith

Jim Smith

  • Programme Director
  • Senior Member of Wolfson College, Cambridge and Trustee of Jimmy's Cambridge

Born in Cambridge, Jim was educated at Parkside School and Hills Road Sixth Form College; he gained a First Class Honours degree in Politics from the University of Newcastle in 1999. Upon graduation he took up a position at what is now the Cambridge Commonwealth, European & International Trust working with a range of NGOs, governments, multinational companies and individuals to fund outstanding international students at Cambridge. In 2002 he was awarded a prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship for postgraduate study in Australia, but instead took up the opportunity to become a professional musician. Jim was appointed Executive Officer of the Gates Cambridge Trust in 2005 and then it’s Programme Director in 2013 - a role which forms part of the senior management of the Trust. As Programme Director, Jim works closely with the Provost and Director of Finance and manages the Programme team. He has also served on the Social Sciences interview panel to select Gates Cambridge Scholars. Jim is privileged to be a Senior Member of Wolfson College, Cambridge and a Trustee and Company Director of homeless charity Jimmy's Cambridge. Jim is still active musically and is involved in numerous projects and hosts regular live music nights in Cambridge.

Luisa Clarke

  • Programme Manager
Luisa Clarke

Luisa Clarke

  • Programme Manager

Luisa joined Gates Cambridge in October 2015, having previously worked at Cambridge Judge Business School. She brings considerable student recruitment and admissions experience to the team. A graduate of Cardiff University, where she read European Studies, in her spare time Luisa enjoys reading, travel and is a regular Parkrunner on a Saturday. She looks forward to working with the diverse Gates Cambridge community.

Jack Earl

  • Global Engagement Officer
Jack Earl

Jack Earl

  • Global Engagement Officer

Dr Carlos Podadera

  • Programme Officer
Dr Carlos Podadera

Dr Carlos Podadera

  • Programme Officer

Carlos joined Gates Cambridge in February 2019 after a nine year stint at the International Programmes Department of Pembroke College, Cambridge University, where he was the Senior Coordinator of the Pembroke-King’s Programme and the Tutor of a group of Spring Semester Programme students. In parallel to that he obtained his PhD on Gothic narrative conventions and Spanish literature of the fin de siècle in Anglia Ruskin University in 2018. In his spare time he enjoys reading crime fiction and he is a big fan of Ian Rankin’s John Rebus novels.

Usha Virdee

  • Accounts Officer
Usha Virdee

Usha Virdee

  • Accounts Officer

Usha Virdee joined the Gates Cambridge Trust in March 2009 and holds the position of Accounts Officer. Previously she worked as an Accounts Administrator for Magdalene College. Usha studied Pharmacology at university. She enjoys travelling and visiting many different countries.

Mandy Garner

  • Communications Officer
Mandy Garner

Mandy Garner

  • Communications Officer

As well as working as Gates Cambridge's Communuciations Officer one and half days a week, Mandy works on the Festival of Ideas and the Cambridge Series at the Hay Festival, organising debates and publicising events. Mandy’s background is in education and health journalism. She was features editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement and also worked for the BBC as a senior broadcast journalist as well as for the writers' association International PEN as a researcher on freedom of expression issues.

Scholars' Council

The Scholars’ Council is funded by the Trust and supports the aims of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship to create a network of responsible global leaders. Drawing on the experiences and aspirations of the entire Gates Cambridge Community, the Council strives to enrich the academic, social and professional lives of all Scholars.

Ms Anwesha Lahiri

  • President
  • The President/Chair of the Scholars' Council oversees its activities and liaises with the Trust on behalf of Scholars. Contact the President at president@gatescouncil.org
Ms Anwesha Lahiri

Ms Anwesha Lahiri

  • President
  • The President/Chair of the Scholars' Council oversees its activities and liaises with the Trust on behalf of Scholars. Contact the President at president@gatescouncil.org

Born in a family of doctors in India, I grew up looking at the world through a lens of seasoned physicians battling to save lives in resource-poor settings. While the academic in me developed an insatiable curiosity about the biological mechanisms of diseases, the social activist in me realized that exploring drivers of diseases at a population level is important to solve global health problems. My graduate studies at IIT Bombay and University of Cambridge cemented this understanding; extensive field research and work experience with UNICEF impressed upon me the importance of translating research findings into actionable evidence. My PhD seeks to explore the nutritional, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in South Asians; integrating clinical knowledge, statistics and public health. South Asians, constituting a fourth of the global population, experience a disproportionately high burden of these diseases, aggravated by inequities in biological risk, behavioural factors and access to health services. Through my research I wish to comprehensively examine the importance of modifiable risk factors in mitigating cardiometabolic disease risks in this population and inform country-specific policies and disease prevention strategies.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Epidemiology 2021
Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay Technology and Development 2019
West Bengal University of Technology Biotechnology 2017

Mr Nicholas Goldrosen

  • Vice-President
  • The Vice-President works with the President to coordinate Council activities and to liaise with the Trust. Contact vice-president@gatescouncil.org
Mr Nicholas Goldrosen

Mr Nicholas Goldrosen

  • Vice-President
  • The Vice-President works with the President to coordinate Council activities and to liaise with the Trust. Contact vice-president@gatescouncil.org

My research uses network analysis and other quantitative methods to study police misconduct and related phenomena. In particular, I am interested in developing methods to identify both misconduct-prone officers and officers who are resilient to negative peer influences. Additionally, my research examines how sanctions for misconduct and other official responses affect future misconduct. My other research interests include progressive prosecution and the intersections of local government law and criminal justice reform.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Criminological Research 2021
Williams College Political Science and Math 2020

Ms Emilie Hertig

  • Treasurer
  • Contact the Treasurer at treasurer@gatescouncil.org
Ms Emilie Hertig

Ms Emilie Hertig

  • Treasurer
  • Contact the Treasurer at treasurer@gatescouncil.org

My passion for astronomy has been an integral part of most of my life: as I realized at the age of 12 that current theories only explain 5% of the cosmos, making a scientific contribution that would shed light on the dark sector of cosmology became my main career goal. Several years later, this unwavering curiosity motivated my Honours thesis centred on the calibration of the CHIME telescope. I then collaborated with the H0LiCOW team, analysing lensed quasars as probes of the Hubble constant, before focusing on the use of machine learning to search for deviations from general relativity in gravitational waves. While studying quantum field theory, I became fascinated by the interconnectedness between the smallest and largest scales of the universe, a central issue in inflationary physics. My PhD will aim to detect signatures of primordial gravitational waves in the CMB and constrain models of the early universe. Despite the abstract nature of my topic, I hope for my research to make a broader impact through the development of computational methods with a wide range of applications. Becoming a Gates Scholar is a great honour which will also allow me to build upon my experience with science outreach and advocating for women in STEM.

Previous Education

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Physics 2021
University of British Columbia Physics 2019
Ecole Polytechnique federale de lausanne Physics 2019

Mr Vishal Vasanthakumar

  • Internal Officer
  • The Internal Officer organises Internal Symposia each term and the Annual Gates Weekend of Research. Contact the Internal Officer at internal@gatescouncil.org
Mr Vishal Vasanthakumar

Mr Vishal Vasanthakumar

  • Internal Officer
  • The Internal Officer organises Internal Symposia each term and the Annual Gates Weekend of Research. Contact the Internal Officer at internal@gatescouncil.org

What does education do? What roles does education play in shaping people’s identities, values and lifeworlds? Having worked as a teacher, a political consultant and a program manager with state education departments in India, I have been keen to derive a deeper understanding of what education does. My first book, titled “The Smart and the Dumb”, takes a journalistic view of how education and culture intersect in India and is due for release in early 2023 by Penguin Randomhouse. My PhD research will focus on how elite education in India creates and reproduces caste and class identities. Through my research, I hope to unpack the mechanisms of how identities reproduce and manifest themselves in new forms through education and how elites contribute to these dynamics.

Previous Education

Harvard University International Education Policy 2020
Anna University Mechanical Engineering 2016

Ms Spatika Jayaram

  • Community Officer
  • The Gates Community Officers are responsible for fostering an inclusive Gates Community. Contact the Gates Community Officer at community@gatescouncil.org
Ms Spatika Jayaram

Ms Spatika Jayaram

  • Community Officer
  • The Gates Community Officers are responsible for fostering an inclusive Gates Community. Contact the Gates Community Officer at community@gatescouncil.org

There is as much poetry in understanding the brain, as there is science. I had the opportunity to pursue both these during my undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali. After working on Schizophrenia at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, I completed my final year thesis on memory formation at the Indian Institute of Science. My graduate research at Oxford interested me in examining how brain circuits contribute to mood disorders. The ways in which early-life experiences predispose individuals towards mental illnesses require examining changes in a developing brain. In my Ph.D., I hope to explore how such changes in the prefrontal cortex can lead to the early onset of neuropsychiatric disorders, by examining their impacts on behaviours that are commonly dysregulated across these conditions. Through my research, I hope to identify critical periods of development and arrive at a better understanding of specific prefrontal circuits that can be targets of early intervention.

Previous Education

University of Oxford Neuroscience 2023
Indian Institute of Science Ed & Research Mohali Biology 2022

Mr Zhaoting Justin Wei

  • Communications Officer
  • The Communications Officer is the conduit for assembling and distributing information to and about the Scholar community. Contact the Communications Officer at comms@gatescouncil.org
Mr Zhaoting Justin Wei

Mr Zhaoting Justin Wei

  • Communications Officer
  • The Communications Officer is the conduit for assembling and distributing information to and about the Scholar community. Contact the Communications Officer at comms@gatescouncil.org

Born and raised in Hong Kong, I am very grateful to have had teachers who from early on nurtured my passion for historical inquiry. My research to date has centred around post-imperial projects of world-making and solidarity. As an undergraduate, I investigated postcolonial economic thought in the Caribbean, with a particular focus on Michael Manley, members of the New World Group, and advocacy for the New International Economic Order. During my MPhil, I returned to the topic of the New International Economic Order, examining how various British constituencies responded to this bold programme demanding global economic reform. At Cambridge, I intend to explore an adjacent instance of postcolonial ‘world-making’ by examining how networks and expressions of Afro-Asian solidarity in support of the Black Power movement emerged and evolved – both across the Caribbean and within the United Kingdom. I hope that this research will shed light not only on how intersectional solidarity manifests and operates, but also on the implications of such historical solidarity for contemporary anti-racism movements. I am honoured to be able to pursue this research as part of the Gates Cambridge community.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Economic and Social History 2022
Harvard University History 2021

Miss Mayumi Sato

  • Outreach Officer
  • The Outreach Officer facilitates the scholar community's engagement with alumni, the wider Cambridge network, the public, and potential new applicants. Contact the Outreach Officer at outreach@gatescouncil.org
Miss Mayumi Sato

Miss Mayumi Sato

  • Outreach Officer
  • The Outreach Officer facilitates the scholar community's engagement with alumni, the wider Cambridge network, the public, and potential new applicants. Contact the Outreach Officer at outreach@gatescouncil.org

Growing up in Asia and North America, I have always felt contradicting experiences of identity, one that oscillates between the desire to belong in a new country and the desire to remember my home roots, while ultimately finding myself not fully accepted in either. From a young age, I used my personal experiences as an opportunity to make sense of the world, and to unpack the societies I moved through. Between academic degrees, I worked on issues of reforestation, gender and social equity in forest landscapes, and land resettlement and reparations in Asia, North America, and Europe. My studies and work has allowed me to develop my current research interests, which focus on the intersection between environment and social justice. My research is centered on practices of environmental justice and resistance, which serve as broader social struggles for freedom and land recognition and reclamation. Through my research, I hope to share public-facing knowledge and flatten the power hierarchies between how "research" is credited and produced, and to translate scholarship in ways that are accessible and useful within and outside the academy.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Sociology 2020
McGill University Honours Geography 2017

Ms Tanvi Rao

  • Alumni Officer
  • The Alumni Officer works to connect the Scholar and Alumni communities. Contact the Alumni Officer at alumni@gatescouncil.org
Ms Tanvi Rao

Ms Tanvi Rao

  • Alumni Officer
  • The Alumni Officer works to connect the Scholar and Alumni communities. Contact the Alumni Officer at alumni@gatescouncil.org

As an undergraduate studying Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech, I became fascinated with medical imaging during internships and research focused on minimally invasive device design for radiology procedures. In my post-graduate work as a consultant, I sought to create impact through healthcare innovation but realized that subconscious bias in tactical solution design often excludes patients with the greatest need. We witnessed this during the COVID-19 crisis as those unable to access or afford care suffered disproportionately.While innovation is key to society’s well-being and progress, I believe we are also obligated to ensure that it reaches those who need it most. Through my PhD research in radiogenomics, an emerging field that combines medical imaging with genomic data, I seek to develop imaging biomarkers and predictive models for liver cancer. Ultimately, this research aims to improve access to care and reduce the resource burden on health professionals by creating tools that enhance diagnostics, enable remote assessment, and improve precision care for an under-funded yet deadly cancer. My research is supervised by Dr. Evis Sala in the Radiogenomics and Quantitative Imaging Group within the Department of Radiology.

Previous Education

Georgia Institute of Technology Biomedical Engineering 2018

Mr Joshua Weygant

  • Technology Officer
  • The Technology Officers are responsible for maintaining the electronic hardware and software in the Scholars' Common Room. Email: tech@gatescouncil.org
Mr Joshua Weygant

Mr Joshua Weygant

  • Technology Officer
  • The Technology Officers are responsible for maintaining the electronic hardware and software in the Scholars' Common Room. Email: tech@gatescouncil.org

"Can we print a functional intestine?" This was my first question when I saw how living cells were printed with a 3D printer. It's perhaps oddly specific, but due to Hirschsprung disease, a large part of my intestine was removed when I was a baby, and I spent countless days in the hospital. Therefore, I know how advances in science and technology can dramatically increase patients' quality of life, and these experiences formed my research interest. I first studied physics engineering at the RheinMain University, and then, during my Masters at the University of Freiburg, I fell in love with the field of biofabrication, which also led me to research at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School. In Cambridge, I will investigate how we can utilize bioprinting to fabricate multi-organ-on-chip systems which potentially can be used for personalized medicine. Next to science, I am passionate about higher-education politics. I believe everybody, regardless of their social and economic background, should have the same opportunities for an education, which is simply not the case yet. I am incredibly honored to join the Gates Cambridge community and deeply grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their support.

Previous Education

Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg Microsystems Engineering 2022
Hochschule RheinMain (HSRM) Physics Engineering 2018

Mr Leonardo F. Souza-McMurtrie

  • Technology Officer
  • The Technology Officers are responsible for maintaining the electronic hardware and software in the Scholars' Common Room. Email: tech@gatescouncil.org
Mr Leonardo F. Souza-McMurtrie

Mr Leonardo F. Souza-McMurtrie

  • Technology Officer
  • The Technology Officers are responsible for maintaining the electronic hardware and software in the Scholars' Common Room. Email: tech@gatescouncil.org

Hi, I'm Leo. I do research on international law and international conflicts!

Previous Education

Queen Mary, University of London International Disputes 2020
Amazon Federal University Law 2018

Mr Stephen Metcalf

  • Learning for Purpose Director
  • Learning for purpose officers lead and organise a curriculum and series of workshops aimed at skills development for scholars. Contact at learningforpurpose@gatescouncil.org
Mr Stephen Metcalf

Mr Stephen Metcalf

  • Learning for Purpose Director
  • Learning for purpose officers lead and organise a curriculum and series of workshops aimed at skills development for scholars. Contact at learningforpurpose@gatescouncil.org

Growing up in eastern Kentucky, in the heart of the Appalachian region of the United States, I was fascinated by questions of meaning in life and devastated by the hardship I witnessed at home and abroad. Education has been my ticket to exploring these two themes: meaning and inequity. With generous support through the Brown Fellows Program, I immersed myself in the liberal arts and sciences at Centre College, studying neuroscience and mathematics as well as philosophy and religion. I lived as a monastic for a summer in a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan, investigated crime scenes and defended the underserved in Washington, DC, and carried out a final-year thesis on spiritual memoirs and autobiographies. After examining the association between the immune system and mental illness through the MPhil in Epidemiology at Cambridge, I joined research teams at Dartmouth College, where we have explored self-regulation as a mechanism of behaviour change and conducted policy-focused research on the US opioid crisis. During my PhD I will address a critical question: Given similar histories of adversity, why do some children do better than others? Studying resilience may help us improve well-being and could lead toward greater health and educational equity. I look forward to working with others in the Gates Cambridge community as we explore fundamental life questions and help others thrive.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Master of Philosophy Epidemiology 2015
Centre College Bachelor of Science Behavioral Neuroscience 2014

Links

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-tyJuPAAAAAJ&hl=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenmetcalf

Mr Angello Alcazar

  • Editor-in-Chief of The Scholar magazine
  • The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the production of the annual The Scholar magazine. Email: eic@gatescouncil.org
Mr Angello Alcazar

Mr Angello Alcazar

  • Editor-in-Chief of The Scholar magazine
  • The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the production of the annual The Scholar magazine. Email: eic@gatescouncil.org

I was born in the second largest city located in a desert after Cairo, towards the end of a never-ending dictatorship. Growing up in Lima, I soon learned that Peru was a country which amalgamated many conflicting realities that were not easily reconciled. My drive to address some of these issues and think laterally has been the stimulus for my work as a researcher, journalist, editor and academic consultant. From a young age, my reluctance to yield to well-demarcated routes has broadened my perspectives and motivated me to find my own path while collaborating with others to create change. Covering dictatorship novels, autobiographical writing and the role of emotions in fiction, my three theses have contributed to advance knowledge at the intersection of literature and sociology. At Cambridge, my PhD project will explore how a group of South American authors grappled with pain and dissatisfaction in their artistic and extraliterary experiences through the diary form. By so doing, I hope to shed light on the value of a sentimental approach to adversity in life-writing, as well as the configurations of masculinity that emanate from it. I am deeply indebted to the Gates Cambridge Trust for giving me this unparalleled opportunity.

Previous Education

Universitat de Barcelona Advanced Literary Studies 2022
McGill University Sociology and Hispanic Studies 2020

Ms Jigisha Bhattacharya

  • Deputy Editor-in-Chief of The Scholar magazine
  • The DEIC supports the EIC in the production of The Scholar magazine. Email: deic@gatescouncil.org
Ms Jigisha Bhattacharya

Ms Jigisha Bhattacharya

  • Deputy Editor-in-Chief of The Scholar magazine
  • The DEIC supports the EIC in the production of The Scholar magazine. Email: deic@gatescouncil.org

Growing up in a small town in Bengal, I turned sensitive to conflicts between communities and identities from an early age. While pursuing my BA in English (Hons.) at Presidency University, Kolkata, my MA in English at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and my MPhil. in Social Sciences at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, I became interested in how literary and cultural forms share a reciprocal relationship with political ideations and events. As a firm believer in public-facing academic work, I have also curated and written extensively on gender, culture, and literature. Further, teaching undergraduate students at the Jindal Global Law School in India has taught me the transformative potential of pedagogic spaces and the need for an egalitarian academic atmosphere. The steep rise of political incarceration in contemporary India has motivated my doctoral project which traces prison experiences of Indian women activists in literary and archival expressions. Through my scholarship and community engagement, I hope to explore how conditions of marginalisation enable responsibility, solidarity, and hope.

Previous Education

Jadavpur University Social Sciences 2019
Jawaharlal Nehru University English 2017

Miss Briseyda Barrientos Ariza

  • Assistant Editor of The Scholar magazine
Miss Briseyda Barrientos Ariza

Miss Briseyda Barrientos Ariza

  • Assistant Editor of The Scholar magazine

I am from Hyattsville, Maryland and most of my childhood summers were spent in the humid climates of Guatemala––saturated in the culture of storytelling. During my studies at Towson University, I returned to the stories of my girlhood. As a recipient of the Leadership for Public Good Fellowship, I collected the oral histories of Guatemalans on their encounters with regional folkloric figures, amplifying occluded voices via cultural/archival work. I built upon my fieldwork in my thesis, where I examined the function of orature and its products as counterstories and symptoms of colonial trauma. During my MPhil at Cambridge, I will broaden my work to the larger Central American diaspora to exhibit how orature and its practice operate as a collective narratological and rhetorical (method)ology that opposition colonial narratives, allowing for new ones to emerge. By re-reckoning the violence represented in the literary and lived, I seek to reassess how narratives are constructed and taught globally through the language and experiences of the oppressed to highlight the anticolonial possibilities extant in intergenerational stories. I am honored to join the Gates Cambridge community, where we all look forward to building a better world.

Previous Education

Towson University English with Literature Track 2022
Towson University Psychology 2022

Miss Arushi Vats

  • Assistant Editor of The Scholar magazine
Miss Arushi Vats

Miss Arushi Vats

  • Assistant Editor of The Scholar magazine

After completing my graduate studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, I have worked in the culture industry of India, focusing on contemporary art of South Asia as a researcher, critic, and curator. Being involved with organisations that challenge authoritarianism, I am interested in how art and activism intersect in powerful and necessary ways. My learning in art has been shaped by ‘doing’—working with artists and collectives, working against capitulatory institutions, and working towards sites of freedom. It is a mode of learning driven by shared spaces, cross-disciplinary pollination and open pedagogies such as reading groups, writing workshops, and public seminars. Such formats of ‘thinking with’ are integral to my scholarship. My research on the mediatic transfers between the photographic and painted image emerging from cites of civic resistance in India will chart a history of lively contestation over notions of the public sphere, articulations of dissent, acts of collective organising, and assertions of difference. By engaging with the history of civic action from below, I hope to draw vital insights into the evolving political ecology of resistance, and its cultural afterlife as image and icon.

Miss Laura Isabel (Laurisa) Sastoque Pabon

  • Media Editor of The Scholar magazine
  • The Media Editor is responsible for the maintenance of The Scholar website. Email: me@gatescouncil.org
Miss Laura Isabel (Laurisa) Sastoque Pabon

Miss Laura Isabel (Laurisa) Sastoque Pabon

  • Media Editor of The Scholar magazine
  • The Media Editor is responsible for the maintenance of The Scholar website. Email: me@gatescouncil.org

Growing up in Bogotá, Colombia, I grappled with the idea of conveying a more truthful and nuanced portrayal of our people’s history to the rest of the world. In 2019, I moved to the United States to pursue a degree in History and Creative Writing, with a minor in Data Science, at Northwestern University. During my studies, I became intrigued by the stigmatization of Colombian immigrants due to our association with drug trafficking history. This interest evolved into a senior thesis that analyzed hundreds of periodical sources and oral histories to uncover how this narrative evolved. Now pursuing an MPhil in digital humanities at Cambridge, I’m merging my interests in immigration narratives and digital methods to develop a GIS map that provides a fresh perspective on the complex relationship between Colombian identity and drug trafficking. My goal is to create a digital exhibition that challenges stereotypes about global Colombians and Latin Americans, showcasing it at museums and galleries worldwide with the help of the Gates Community. I’m excited to open up new avenues for understanding and appreciation of our historical memory.

Previous Education

Northwestern University History, English, Data Science 2023

Scholars’ Alumni Advisory Committee

Following the Gates Cambridge Alumni Association’s strategic review of its mission and purpose, in December 2023 the Gates Cambridge Trust Board of Trustees agreed that the Trust should assume more of the operational responsibility for alumni activity under the guidance of an alumni advisory committee.  To implement this decision, we are now in the process of establishing the Gates Cambridge Scholars’ Alumni Advisory Committee (SAAC), which will serve as a voice for the Gates Cambridge Scholars global alumni community to the Gates Cambridge Trust and its officers. The SAAC will provide strategic advice to the Trust to help maximise the impact of alumni engagement programming.

Libby Blanchard

Libby Blanchard

  • Co-Chair

I arrived at Cambridge in 2012 to pursue an MPhil in Environment, Society and Development to learn how best to negotiate environmental pressures when alleviating poverty through economic growth. I am particularly interested in developing policies that address both extreme poverty and biodiversity loss--two of the most critical challenges of our era. In 2013, I received a second Gates Cambridge Scholarship to pursue a PhD that addresses climate change policy and environmental justice, and received my PhD in 2017. Before Cambridge, I worked for six years directing international development and conservation initiatives for a coffee importing company. In this role, I raised over $4 million for livelihood improvement programs, some of which were featured at the Clinton Global Initiative and in National Geographic's Wild Chronicles series.

Darja Irdam

  • Co-Chair
Darja Irdam

Darja Irdam

  • Co-Chair

At the University of Cambridge, I studied the political economy of health. During my PhD, I studied the link between privatisation policies and increased alcohol-related mortality rates. I have worked in health and healthcare research since I completed my studies because I am passionate about health and healthcare and I believe that we can use our achievements in science and technology to improve people's health all over the world. As a Gates Cambridge alumna, I strive to make people believe they can create change and improve not only their own lives but also the lives of others.

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/darja-irdam-b76365158

Luis Welbanks

  • SAAC member
Luis Welbanks

Luis Welbanks

  • SAAC member

My experience in life taught me not to conform with the stereotypes imposed by those in power. I believe that every person can achieve greatness and should be allowed to fulfill their dreams. Being a Mexican, I see science as the means to take down the walls built by those trying to divide us, empower people to make informed decisions and appreciate that all lives have equal value. My passion for science transformed into a deep curiosity to understand our universe and the conditions that allowed for our existence. My desire to understand the world took me from Mexico to Canada where I became the first person at the University of Calgary to finish two majors in physics and astrophysics in four years. Later, I joined Dr. Rachid Ouyed and his group to study the Quark Nova, its astronomical signatures and implications. Now in Cambridge, I am honoured to join Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan and his group in studying and characterizing the atmospheres of exoplanets. We are as close as we have ever been to understanding our place in the universe and the uniqueness of our existence. The quest for habitable planets thrills me and I believe that this excitement is shared with the rest of humanity. My path to becoming a Gates-Cambridge scholar has not been linear and I owe a large amount of gratitude to every person who believed in me and helped me become who I am. I hope this opportunity will allow me to inspire others to pursue their goals and create scientific opportunities in Latin America.

Previous Education

University of Calgary

Links

https://luiswelbanks.com