Current Scholars

From a young age, I expressed a keen interest in the issues surrounding infectious diseases and global epidemics. As a Biomedical Engineering student at Arizona State University, my interest in epidemiology and its engineering applications were further developed and contextualized by an additional minor in Global Health and a research internship at the Translational Genomics Research Institute. During the course of my PhD in Chemical Engineering at Cambridge, I aspire to develop novel diagnostics for C. difficile, the deadliest superbug in the United States, and C. perfringens, the second leading cause of food poisoning. With C. difficile, there is a direct correlation between mortality and the timing and choice of initial treatment. With the invention of an immediate diagnostic that detects the level of infection, mortality rates may be reduced across global communities.I seek to be a leader in the worldwide pursuit to alleviate the burden of disease on developing populations by delivering technologies that are simple, inexpensive, and—above all else—feasible in their applicable environments. I am grateful to be joining the Gates Cambridge Community and for the opportunity to network with some of the greatest intellects of our generation with the united goal of improving the human condition.

Previous Education

Arizona State University BS in Engineering Biomedical Engineering 2019

I am a young geneticist who is ambitious about improving healthcare and stratified medicine. At the age of 16, I attended to United World Colleges of Atlantic, an institute with a mission to use education as a force to unite people, nations and cultures for world peace and sustainable future. While at UWC, academically I became interested in studying disease genetics due to its potential to improve the lives of others. Thus, I studied BSc Human Genetics at UCL, where I developed an interest on the genetic basis of complex diseases. Afterwards, I studied MPhil in Genomic Medicine at Cambridge University as a Gates Scholar. During my master's, I worked at Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute under Prof Zeggini's supervision on two complex disease bioinformatics projects where I worked with large datasets including UKBioBank. For my PhD, I will be studying the rare and low-frequency variants underlying diabetes using data from several biological levels under the supervision of Dr Langenberg. I am very intrigued about this project addressing the knowledge gap in complex disease genomics, given its potential to improve healthcare and stratified medicine. I am very excited to be a part of the influential Gates Cambridge community again.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Genomic Medicine 2018
University College London Human Genetics 2017

A San Francisco Bay Area native, I grew up immersed in and fascinated by technology. Carrying this fascination with me to study Psychology and Computing and Digital Technologies at the University of Notre Dame, I won my first research grants to conduct a crowdsourced Internet study of personality and subjective well-being in 105 nations and nine languages. At Notre Dame’s Center for Advanced Measurement of Personality and Psychopathology, I developed an interest in the overlap of clinical disorders with everyday personality traits. In 2017, I was selected for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Computational Social Science REU at Notre Dame’s Center for Research Computing where I used machine learning to predict mental illness traits from social media big data. By pursuing a PhD in Psychology at Cambridge under the mentorship of Dr Jason Rentfrow, I will synthesize mobile-sensing and personality data to predict mental illness outcomes and subjective well-being. I hope to help automate lengthy mental health assessments through computational analyses of social media big data with Dr David Stillwell and colleagues at The Psychometrics Centre. As a Gates Cambridge Scholar and social data scientist, I hope to inform the next generation of the world’s best physicians, lawyers, philosophers, and educators of both the promise of online social data in transforming mental healthcare and the moral imperative to combat the exploitative use of big data in this proliferating field.

Previous Education

University of Notre Dame Bachelor of Arts in Psychology 2019

During my childhood, my family struggled to afford the costs of managing chronic health issues. This made clear to me that poor health and other difficult life experiences are often intertwined. At Pomona College, I majored in chemistry and started to dream of becoming a physician-scientist in order to study, and then reverse, biochemical processes that translate adverse life circumstances into poor long-term health. My passion for biochemistry grew over four years in the Sazinsky lab, where I discovered the crystal structure of an enzyme that could make better nutrition available to many more people. Also, with Dr. Calderón-Villarreal of COLEF in Tijuana, Mexico, I developed a research project that uses chemistry and anthropology to investigate environmental causes of health problems in a population experiencing homelessness. As a PhD student in the Reik and Balasubramanian labs, I will study epigenetic molecular mechanisms in embryonic development, which could provide insight into various chronic diseases and cancers that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. I am honored to join the Gates-Cambridge community and will pay the opportunity forward by mentoring students seeking to connect social justice with the sciences.

Previous Education

Pomona College Chemistry 2020

I am a Canadian studying an MD/PhD at Wolfson College. I improve the design of vaccines by studying pathogen evolution.

Growing up in Zimbabwe, I have watched people succumb to diseases that could be cured if curative and preventive health services were provided. Zimbabwe suffers from poor healthcare infrastructure and a lack of advanced research which are hindrances to fighting diseases. This grim reality, complex and imperative to mend, birthed my interest to be involved in the improvement of others' health through research. Notably, at Biodesign Institute, l investigated HPV specific immune responses identifying asymptotic stages of cervical cancer and at Novartis, the use of biomarkers in Alzheimer's Disease. Both experiences helped me develop an appreciation of the immune system and how it can be harnessed to control and detect diseases. Hence, during my Ph.D., I intend to further explore the immune processes and their functions working with Dr. Adrian Liston, whose research is focused on manipulating the immune system to cure brain injuries. Immune responses are the core to any development of drug therapies, vaccines or healing of diseases. Thus, I hope to apply the skills and expertise I will acquire through my experience as a Ph.D. student at Cambridge to the betterment of the healthcare standards of Zimbabwe.

Previous Education

Arizona State University Medicinal Chemistry 2019

I have always been fascinated by tiny creatures such as viruses that are capable of launching vicious attacks on our robust immune system. I want to gain a deeper understanding of how viruses engage with its host (us) and the arsenals we deploy to strike back. I did my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Jacobs University in Germany. Early exposure to research and extensive mentoring from my professors motivated me to pursue both on-campus and international research opportunities. I designed polyelectrolyte microcapsules for T-cell staining at Jacobs University and studied the cytokine-mediated death of intestinal organoids to understand the pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease at NYU. For my thesis, I investigated the role of cathepsin K in the choroid plexus of mice brains. I also worked at a start-up company in Frankfurt conducting cognitive and neuroscience research. Simultaneously, I have explored my passions for science writing, education and health access, and community service. I served as an Assistant Editor in ‘The Journal of Young Investigators’ where I reviewed scientific manuscripts submitted by undergraduate researchers. I also served as the President of ‘Explore Bremen’, a student-initiated outreach club that mentors socio-economic disadvantaged and refugee kids. I am actively involved in science communication through blogging and graphic designing to help science reach a wider audience. At Cambridge, I am working in the lab of Dr. Mark Wills to investigate the modulation of Natural Killer (NK) cell responses by HCMV. Since HCMV infection can be fatal in immunocompromised patients, therapeutically targeting the viral reservoir via NK cells could have far-reaching clinical implications. I am incredibly honored and excited to be a part of the passionate and dynamic Gates Cambridge community.

Previous Education

Jacobs University Biochemistry and Cell Biology 2019

Since childhood, I was always fascinated by developmental biology. I wanted to understand how a single cell could become a complex organism. After matriculating as an Honors Biology student at the University of Delaware, I joined Dr. Salil A. Lachke’s developmental genetics laboratory where I studied the role of RNA-binding protein-mediated post-transcriptional regulation in mammalian ocular lens development. Simultaneously, I explored my passions for education access and science advocacy. Since 2014, I’ve worked with Leading Youth Through Empowerment – a non-profit that offers accelerated coursework to high-achieving at-risk youth. I also participated in the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Advocacy Training Program through which I met with the offices of my senators and representative to advocate for science funding and education.At Cambridge, I will carry out my Ph.D. project in the laboratory of Dr. Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz studying the post-implantation development of human and mouse embryos. Post-implantation stages are referred to as the “black box” of development, and very little is known about these early stages when many pregnancies fail. Recently, Dr. Zernicka-Goetz’s group developed a culture system that opened this “black box” and I look forward to finding what lies within it. I am honored to join the motivated and interdisciplinary Gates Cambridge community.

Previous Education

University of Delaware Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences 2019

As a speech-language pathologist in the Frontotemporal Disorders Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, I worked with patients diagnosed with neurodegenerative conditions. My research emphasis has been on frontotemporal lobar degeneration and its subtypes, particularly primary progressive aphasia (PPA), which are fast progressing, often misdiagnosed, and have no effective treatment. Being a clinician-researcher has uniquely positioned me to examine questions that are meaningful and translatable to a clinical context. At Cambridge’s MRC CBU, my PhD will focus on investigating the semantic representation versus control deficits in PPA to better understand the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying semantic cognition, with the ultimate goal of informing approaches to characterization and intervention in the clinical setting and providing further experimental validation of computational models of controlled semantic cognition. It is truly an honor to be part of the Gates Cambridge community, and I look forward to collaborating with fellow Gates scholars who have a shared goal - a commitment to improving the lives of others!

Previous Education

MGH Institute of Health Profes Speech Language Pathology 2018
Columbia University Psychology 2015

I obtained advanced degrees both in law and in philosophy (studying at the University of Geneva and at Harvard Law School). In philosophy, my courses focused on analytic philosophy and philosophy of mind. This is where I first encountered the topic of self-deception which has become the focus of my proposed research. After my studies, I practiced law at a leading law firm in Switzerland where I handled a high-profile case of “conscious negligence”, that diminishes responsibility under Swiss Criminal Law. This experience triggered my interest in the fundamental conditions of moral and legal responsibility as well as the limits of responsibility in law. For my PhD, I intend to address the question of self-deception in morality and law. Minimally, self-deception denotes a phenomenon that occurs when a person acquires and maintains a false belief despite possessing evidence to the contrary. Self-deception may lead to acts or behaviour that result in wrongdoings and harm others and is therefore a critical topic for both morality and the law. Despite this, the significance of self-deception in law remains largely unexplored.

Previous Education

Harvard University Law 2016
University of Geneva Law 2016
University of Geneva Philosophy 2015

Gazing at the night sky, it is difficult not to wonder what worlds might exist around each star and whether they might even host life. Over the past two decades, exoplanetary science has revealed to us the great diversity of planets outside the solar system, presenting the possibility of understanding their evolution, habitability and presence of biosignatures. A crucial piece in the puzzle of characterising full planetary systems requires the study of debris disks, which provide crucial constraints on the architecture and history of the system. My research uses high-resolution imaging and dynamical modelling to understand how planets and debris disks interact, what the structures of debris disks tell us about the architecture of planetary systems and their implications on theories of planetary formation and evolution. I completed my undergraduate degree in Physics and Neuroscience at the University of Sydney, which provided valuable opportunities for me to explore and pursue my interests. I look forward to joining the Gates Cambridge community and am excited to commence research at the Institute of Astronomy.

Previous Education

University of Sydney Physics 2019

As an Applied Mathematician/Software Engineer turned future physician, I am excited about bringing the forefront of technology to help aid in the discovery of the mechanisms behind inflammatory diseases. I will be working with Dr. Roisin Owens in Biotechnology and Dr. Sergio Bacallado in the Stats Lab to develop a mathematical framework for validating a bioelectronic model of the gut. I was born and raised in beautiful Colorado, and studied Applied Math at CU-Boulder, where I got my first taste of building tools to help study the gut microbiome in the Rob Knight lab. Upon completion of my degree, I packed my bags and headed West to work as a Software Engineer at Uber in San Francisco, CA. I wanted to apply my newly acquired software skills to medicine. I transitioned back into academia by pursuing my MPhil at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge with Dr. Gosia Trynka. I then started my MD program in Medicine at the University of Colorado, where I have been for the last two years. I have been working with Dr. Cathy Lozupone to build software tools for microbiome analysis. I'm excited to begin my PhD training portion and return back to Cambridge!

Previous Education

University of Colorado at Denver Medicine 2026
University of Cambridge Biological Sciences 2018
University of Colorado at Boulder Applied Mathematics 2013

Links

http://kumarthurimella.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumarthurimella

With the average life expectancy increasing worldwide, the prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease is predicted to double within the next generation. Despite this rising challenge to public health and numerous clinical trials, there is still no cure for this debilitating disease, highlighting the need for better preclinical models and increased translational research. This motivated me to join efforts unravelling the underlying molecular mechanisms of Parkinson’s during my Master’s thesis in Molecular Medicine at the University of Tübingen. To enable my research to bridge the gap from bench to bedside, I subsequently collaborated with AstraZeneca as a research assistant at the University of Oxford where I established a drug screening pipeline on patient derived cells and succeeded in identifying new drug candidates. For my PhD in Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge, I will employ a cellular 3D model of Parkinson’s disease involving human neurons and glia to continue deciphering the mechanisms driving disease in patient brains. I hope that using this clinically relevant disease model will facilitate the translation of preclinical studies into patient treatment. I am deeply honoured to have been selected for a Gates Cambridge scholarship and am looking forward to joining a community of scholars who aspire to use their academic abilities to improve the lives of others.

Previous Education

Eberhard-Karls-Universitat Tubingen Molecular Medicine 2019
Eberhard-Karls-Universitat Tubingen Molecular Medicine 2016
University of Michigan Psychology, Neuroscience 2015

While studying Human Geography and Sociology at the University of Toronto, my professors nurtured my interest in examining social inequality and segregation in urban space. I was inspired to contemplate justice-oriented visions of city building and analyze uneven development and political fragmentation within cities which are more pronounced now than ever. At Cambridge, my research will consider how citizen-led development can be employed as a tool for empowering the urban poor in the context of housing inequality and forced evictions from informal settlements in Pakistan. Specifically, I will investigate how cross-class alliances can enhance marginalized groups’ political claims-making abilities and help them assert their status as legitimate urban citizens. Urban theories and policies are largely based on the experiences of a select few cities in the Global North. In response, my scholarly aim is to highlight diverse Southern urban experiences, which will reveal important socio-political particularities about life in cities of the Global South. By inspiring policymakers and researchers, I hope to achieve a future where cities are not divided or fragmented but rather inclusive spaces of collaboration between residents. I am grateful and excited, and humbled most of all, to be joining a community of students who share a strong commitment to changing the world for the better.

Previous Education

University of Toronto Geography 2019
University of Toronto Human Geography, Sociology, Writing & Rhetoric 2018

My proposed topic, moral dilemmas of contemporary Chinese liberal intellectuals, arises from my long-standing interest. I completed a BA in Journalism in the highest rated institution for journalism in China, Renmin University, and received my Distinction MA in Sociocultural Anthropology at Durham University, UK. Between the two degrees, I have worked as a journalist and editor in Chinese top media organisations for over 11 years. These experiences have granted me first-hand observations, an extensive network analytic skills and narrative approaches. I have written numerous articles concerning the roles and dilemmas of liberal intellectuals, 20 of which were published into my first book, Triste Common Sense (2013). I reckon many ethical paradoxes in everyday life of Chinese liberal intellectuals are largely unheard and untold. By verbalising, representing and analysing their experiences, this project will help us to gain more reflection and recognition on their roles and responsibilities in this era. It will also benefit broader Chinese citizens to get better understandings of the reality of Chinese society, and to take references or inspirations from these intellectuals' choices and struggles.

Previous Education

Durham University Sociocultural Anthropology 2019
Renmin University Journalism 2007

Growing up in Damascus, Syria, I immigrated to the United States when I was seventeen in September 2015. Completing my senior year at Wheeling High School in the U.S., I enrolled at UIC pursuing a bachelor's degree with a double major in biology and chemistry and minor in mathematics. I was fascinated by the immense potential in developing novel analytical chemical and mathematical tools to solve pressing biomedical problems. Starting my first year of college, I have conducted research on diabetic eye disease while volunteering at an ophthalmology clinic to serve patients of the same life-changing, blindness-causing disease conditions. Through these experiences, I found an articulation of my interests in patient-driven research that considers both the biochemical and socioeconomic lenses. Through the MPhil in Genomic Medicine at Cambridge, I hope to visualize the molecular, analytical, statistical, social, and clinical challenges facing the use of omics-based personalized medicine across everyday clinics. Professionally, I intend to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. advancing biochemical and computational technologies to address currently incurable diseases, and contributing to the crafting of a new era of healthcare without disparities.

Previous Education

University of Illinois-Chicago Biology and Chemistry 2020

The history of climate change will shape its future. An avid reader from a young age, I understood the power of stories to change our worldview, and the starring role that science plays in many of these stories. After studying English literature and poetry at Yale, I spent five years reporting on climate science and the environment as a journalist in Seattle. As I explored the gap between public ideas about science and how climate scientists thought about their own work, I came to see uncertainty not as a byproduct of ignorance but as an aspect of scientific knowledge itself. My PhD will build on this idea through a history of climate science in Antarctica, a continent frequently depicted as a 'blank' for science to fill in. The past half-century of scientific attempts to map, measure, and model the seventh continent have led to the current "deep uncertainty" in IPCC projections of sea-level rise. The efforts to confront uncertainty in Antarctic oceans and ice sheets form an important chapter in the still-unfolding history of climate science, and I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to carry out this work as a member of the Gates community.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge History and Philosophy of Scie 2020
Yale University English, Creative Writing 2013

Over years of studying literature, first as an undergraduate at St. Stephen's College, Delhi and then as a Master's student at the University of Oxford, I have developed an appreciation for the narratives that often go unheard. My work considers independent literary expression in India and turns to the ways in which writing and documentation can transform how we occupy, understand, and move in the world. By looking to minority voices, through scholarship and curatorial work, I hope to bring attention to the politics of artistic practice, building spaces that are are aware both of their potential and their responsibility.

Previous Education

University of Oxford World Literatures in English 2017
University of Delhi English 2016

Growing up in Austin, Melbourne, Beijing and Maryland, my life has been filled with shifting residences, but remaining unchanged is a deep curiosity for the miraculous gift of “mind” that distinguishes humans of all cultures. During my undergraduate studies in Neuroscience and Behavior at University of Notre Dame, I’ve found my passion for research in the neuroscience of consciousness and human intelligence. My PhD project at the MRC Brain and Cognition Unit investigates the neural networks associated with insight problem-solving, and I hope I can help reveal how our “intuition” works and inspire conversation across interdisciplinary fields. In an age marked by technology breakthroughs, my goal is to encourage more dialogue between neuroscience and artificial intelligence. I’m extremely honored to be part of the Gates Cambridge Scholars community, and I’m looking forward to beginning the next part of my journey with my fellow Gates Scholars and creating lasting impact on the world together.

Previous Education

University of Notre Dame Neuroscience and Behavior 2019

The diverse and innovative realms of biomedical sciences and healthcare captured my imagination since my days at Karachi Grammar School. As I commenced my medical training at Cambridge, I was astounded by the complex collection of molecular machines and networks that formed an unlikely, harmonious cooperative: the human body. I periodically satiated my curiosity with research projects exploring proteins involved in cancer metastasis and novel prognostic tests for chronic liver disease. At Caltech, I also investigated human neural reference frames in Brain Machine Interfaces. This inspired a Part II in Neuroscience, which gradually revealed the dearth of approved medications for neural tumours. This burning necessity drove me to cofound a cancer therapeutics and drug delivery bio-startup, angioClast, which is developing a sophisticated treatment strategy for vascularised tumours. As an MB/PhD student, I hope to study the cryptic world of RNA and DNA modifications at the Kouzarides Lab. This hitherto unexplored field has groundbreaking implications for future therapeutics. During this program, I also hope to further delve into the fascinating fields of public health and health-tech. These interests were shaped by my forays into public policy for Neglected Tropical Diseases, and a micro-financing social venture featured at the Hult Prize Regional Final. In the future, I wish to discover synergies across the journey from bench to bedside, delivering innovative personalised medicine and effective public health interventions.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge

As a child who frequently visited the hospital, many questions about human health boggled my mind. Indeed, these curiosities lead me to the captivating world of the Medical Sciences. I was born and raised in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria. In 2016, I obtained a full tuition fee waiver to study Biomedicine in Karolinska Institute, Sweden. I have spent my undergraduate summers carrying out research projects in various labs. My interest in cancer research developed during the later part of my education. With cancer being a global disease and a major cause of mortality worldwide, it is of paramount importance that we strive to speed up diagnosis and improve treatment. My PhD project at the MRC cancer unit involves the identification of candidate biomarkers that could be used in patient risk stratification for oesophageal cancer. It is my hope that by identifying these biomarkers, patients at risk can easily be identified and, therefore, be able to seek medical intervention at a very early stage before the disease progresses. At and beyond Cambridge, I hope to work on projects directed towards positively impacting health and lives of people including my home country, Nigeria and the world at large. I am truly humbled and beyond grateful to be part of such a prestigious international scholarship programme.

Previous Education

Karolinska Institute Biomedical Science 2019