Current Scholars

My interest in untangling the 'grand challenge' of climate change mitigation was sparked as a National Geographic documentary intern in 2007. Since then, my education and professional work has delved into understanding the complexities of this issue from a Management perspective. After earning an MPhil in Geography & the Environment at the University of Oxford, I worked as a Research Fellow at Babson College, conducting studies on clean energy entrepreneurship and female-led, high growth, high-potential firms. I intend to research climate change mitigation and transition strategies for my PhD. More specifically, I am interested in challenges that large organizations -- particularly those in the oil and gas industry -- face while pursuing alternative energy-related innovations. Given the potential severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts of many climate change-related phenomena on Earth systems, research in this area is necessary to produce theories and evidence on which we can base organizational decisions and public policies for the long-term well-being of global society. I am excited and honoured to be joining the Gates Cambridge community this year.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Innovation, Strategy, and Orga 2020
Bentley College Business Administration 2016
University of Oxford Geography and the Environment 2014

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

I grew up in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and went to Universidad Autonoma Gabriel Rene Moreno where I received a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry. During my time as an undergrad student, I developed an interest in improving the health system of my country by performing research in those diseases that mostly affect Bolivia. The following year, I became part of a training program in charge of Professor Robert H. Gilman from the Johns Hopkins University, who gave me the opportunity of doing a master degree in Epidemiological research at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia where I studied the development of the most important chronic manifestation of Chagas disease (cardiomyopathy). During my training, I also completed courses in Argentina, Chile, Peru and the United States, which later allowed me to present my work at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). I was also awarded a fellowship in research at the Johns Hopkins University. At Cambridge, I will perform a PhD in Biochemistry studying the interaction of Toxoplasma gondii with the host cell under the supervision of Professor Ross Waller. Besides my academic work, I am interested in youth development for which I have been selected as a Bolivian Youth Ambassador, a program sponsored by the Department of State of the United States

Previous Education

Universidad Peruana Cayetano H Epidemiology and Research 2019
Universidad A Gabriel Rene M. Biochemistry 2017

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

In the southwest Rocky Mountains, my formative years were spent shaping, and shaped by, non-human nature. My architectural career proceeded to harness environmental forces through the planning, design and construction of communal rainwater catchment pavilions in Rwanda; solar/geo-thermal powered, net-zero energy neighborhoods and mixed-use urban infill projects in the USA; and prototypical, self-sufficient, digitally-fabricated engineered timber homes, greenhouses, public space interventions, and future 'Biocities' in Spain. Presently, my doctoral research investigates how geospatial data can inform nature-based value chains for development which catalyze the sustainable regional economies we’ll need to meet the demand for a worldwide doubling of built floor area by 2060 - while mitigating and adapting to global climate change by advancing carbon neutrality, resource security, biodiversity, and ecologic resilience alongside human health and wellbeing.

Previous Education

Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia Advanced Ecological Buildings 2019
University of Colorado at Boulder Env. Design: Architecture 2014

Links

https://valldaura.net
https://www.instagram.com/mnmnsalka
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsalka

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 human cytomegalovirus (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

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

Most have a favourite colour, I have a favourite cell. Macrophages are tissue-resident immune cells that are the ‘first ones in and last ones out’ in most tissue insults. This crush started in 2018, while investigating a rare immune disorder where chronic EBV infection drove uncontrolled macrophage activation, corrupting our biggest ally into a fatal enemy. I went on to study these cells in other contexts, including pregnancy, where placental macrophages have a plethora of roles essential for fetal health. By the midpoint of my medical studies at Cambridge University, I was committed to dedicating more time to immunology research, which has the potential to transform all fields of medicine. For my PhD, I bring my interests in tissue-resident immunity to triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC is the most aggressive form of breast cancer and the lack of effective therapies in TNBC is a major unmet clinical need. By combining computational methods with functional disease models, I hope to derive translatable insights to antibody and macrophage-directed responses within tumours, which may yield novel therapeutic strategies in TNBC. Outside of the lab, I am passionate about sports, education outreach and medical education.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Medicine 2020

My research examines kitchen archives from the early modern period into the digital age in England and Mexico. Melding together past and present, I will bring together the perspectives and practices of families and collaborative authors, dealers, archivists, scholars, and members of the public to inquire into the impulse to create, preserve, and use repositories of informal, everyday knowledge and the losses and silences along the way.

Previous Education

University College London Early Modern Studies 2019
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico English Language and lit. 2017

Growing up in south-eastern Nigeria, a recurring phrase among elderly Igbo people in the region is, “before the War…”, followed by narratives of how things used to be and how things could have been. This piqued my interest in cultural heritage and how they are impacted by tragedies and conflicts. During my B.A. at the University of Nigeria, I studied how prolonged interregnal periods in certain Igbo communities, occasioned by succession difficulties after the death of a king, could impact cultural continuity. Now, I will be exploring the destructive and generative impacts of Nigeria’s 30-month Civil war, remembered as the “Biafran War”, on the cultural identity and patrimony of the Igbo people. At Cambridge, my PhD research will focus more explicitly on the complex interaction of conflict and intangible heritage and the dissonances in memorialisation, canonisation, representation and silencing. I hope to further our understanding of the uses of heritage during conflicts and to help post-conflict communities to develop comprehensive approaches to their heritage in order to inform policies for dealing with the legacies of difficult pasts. I am thrilled to belong to the Gates community and I look forward to an impactful partnership.

Previous Education

University of Nigeria Cultural Resources Management 2020
University of Nigeria Archaeology and Tourism 2016

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

I became passionate about biological systems and epigenetic regulation while I was studying my B.Sc. in Biotechnology Engineering at Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey – Campus Estado de Mexico, but also intricated with the complexities of these systems. I am convinced that they hold the key for treating diseases with clinical unmet needs, as such during my undergraduate program I conducted research related with RNA biology and gene silencing. During my PhD in genetics at Cambridge I will work on conducting research on RNA epigenetics and posttranscriptional gene regulation, as I strongly believe that these areas of research will allow us to gain a better understanding of the functioning of biological systems and to search for potential treatments for diseases, such as Cancer. I am very proud and excited to be a part of the Gates Cambridge Community, a community of scholars who believe in the power of knowledge for transforming societies.

Previous Education

Inst Tecnológico de Monterrey Estado de Mexico Biotechnology Engineering 2020

My work focuses on the structure and content of representations in deep neural networks. State-of-the-art machine learning systems are ubiquitous in modern life. Deep neural networks exhibit a remarkable level of predictive success worthy of the popular label of artificial intelligence (AI). These systems find applications in everything from algorithmic decision assistance in medicine and criminal justice to playing board games like chess and Go. Our epistemic networks are increasingly intertwined with machine learning algorithms, and scientists rely on them in computational models. However, deep learning systems are opaque in ways that make explaining their capacities intractable. Philosophers of science are uniquely positioned to investigate critical questions concerning the widespread implementation of AI systems. How can deep neural networks teach us about the brain? How do these models generate explanations in science? To what extent does science demand transparency in AI? How should rapid technological advancements in AI inform public policy? How can we promote more humane and egalitarian implementations of AI in public life? Understanding how AI exploits abstract representations can shed light on these important questions.

Previous Education

University of Houston Philosophy 2021
University of Houston Philosophy 2019

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

The goal of my PhD research is to explore prosody (stress, rhythm, intonation) and socioeconomic status as factors influencing the development of reading abilities, and I am particularly interested in silent reading (implicit prosody). During my undergraduate studies in English Language and Literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, I was exposed to aspects of first and second language acquisition, and as an Erasmus+ student at the University of Edinburgh, I became increasingly interested in language processing and psycholinguistics. During my MPhil in Applied Linguistics at Trinity College Dublin, I focused on dyslexia, prosodic processing, and Computer-Assisted Language Learning. By investigating reading abilities among typically developing readers, my aim is to shed light on the role of prosodic processing and production in reading comprehension, to unveil the impact of hidden socioeconomic inequalities on literacy acquisition, and to investigate the extent to which reading difficulties remain undiagnosed. This research will aid in the diagnosis and the development of accommodations for reading difficulties and a more thorough understanding of how these difficulties can go undetected by educators.

Previous Education

University of Dublin Trinity College Applied Linguistics 2020
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki English Language & Literature 2018

Links

https://linktr.ee/ct620
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ct620

I grew up in the beautiful city of Pilar in Argentina but left to pursue a BSc Politics and Philosophy at LSE. As an undergraduate, I became particularly intrigued by questions regarding the nature of goodness and evil and dedicated my dissertation to the (apparent) incompatibility between the existence of God and the evil in our world. During my MSc Political Theory at LSE, I continued to inquire into the intricate nature of moral properties and their normativity through the close study of Kant, Hobbes, Marx and Aristotle. I ultimately came to think that the normativity of ethics might not spring from rationality but from requirements of interpersonal relations. With this in mind, I devoted my MPhil Philosophy research at Cambridge to uncovering what love and friendship are all about. I will continue this study in my PhD by asking whether acting ethically is a necessary presupposition of acting with someone. I hope my project will offer a framework to understand not only the source of the normativity of moral demands but also the moral dimension of our personal and political relations with each other. I am humbled to join the Gates Cambridge community and look forward to working with such a talented group of scholars.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Philosophy 2021
London School of Economics & Political Science (Un Political theory 2020
London School of Economics & Political Science (Un Politics and Philosophy 2019

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/frodriguezx2
https://facundorodriguez.site

I am from Detroit, Michigan and spent my teenage years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During my studies in Anthropology and English at Bowdoin College, I explored how humans express differences in their lived experiences to each other. I was a recipient of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, where I studied how storytelling can facilitate communication across differences in the context of school district community engagement. My professional experiences after Bowdoin solidified and honed my commitment to serving people while introducing me to the intersections of law, community engagement, and the American immigration system. During my PhD in Social Anthropology, I will build on my MPhil research and continue learning about the relationship between legal systems and immigrant communities in Detroit (USA) and Windsor (Canada). By researching immigration law, legal consciousness, and how undocumented immigrants form collective identity, I hope to elevate immigrant voices and promote the autonomy of immigrant communities. I am honored to be a part of the Gates Cambridge community, where we all strive to learn how to serve people better.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Social Anthropology 2022
Bowdoin College Anthropology, English 2018

In much of my own work — interning with the Inspector General for the New York Police Department, analyzing local criminal justice data in Massachusetts (where I attended Williams College for my BA in political science and mathematics), and serving on a user group for the US Administrative Office of the Courts — I have seen how transparency and data can enable reform in the criminal legal system, particularly with regards to racism and inequity. As a current criminology MPhil student, I research how police react to criminal legal reforms, such as progressive prosecution, and how these reactions affect the efficacy of reform. For my PhD, I will study how misconduct and discrimination spread throughout police peer networks. I have seen, through my own and my family’s experiences, that the criminal legal system does possess the ability — though used inequitably and too infrequently — to treat people with minimal intrusion and punishment. I hope that by using quantitative tools to identify barriers to reform, I can contribute to a reimagining of how we prevent and respond to harm as a society. I am immensely grateful for the support and grace I have been shown along the way by so many, including the Gates Cambridge Trust.

Previous Education

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

As an undergraduate researcher at UNC at Chapel Hill and NIH, I gained a broad understanding of biological mechanisms underlying disease, especially cancer. My experiences while designing an undergraduate course, research work, and clinical volunteering sparked my interest in genomics and precision medicine. My coursework and clinical experiences during my master's in genomic medicine at Imperial College London demonstrated to me the potential of precision medicine to revolutionize healthcare. As an MD/PhD student, I will study the genomic landscape of paragangliomas, pheochromocytomas, and gastrointestinal stromal tumors at the NIH and the University of Cambridge. Through metabolic, epigenetic, and functional genomic studies, I hope to elucidate the biological underpinnings of these devastating neuroendocrine tumors, leading to advancements in prognostication and treatment. Outside the lab, I will continue my involvement in scientific outreach/education and refugee health. I am honored to be part of the multidisciplinary and collaborative Gates Cambridge community seeking to improve global society. As a future physician-scientist, I aspire to translate scientific advancements into precision medicine diagnostics and therapeutics.

Previous Education

University of North Carolina Medicine 2026
Imperial College London (University of London) Genomic Medicine 2017
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Biology 2016

As an undergraduate at Duke University, I developed a keen interest in utilizing computational models to investigate the underlying mechanisms of human disease. I resolved to concentrate my career on connecting biology, mathematics, and computer science, with a focus on applications to human health. Shortly after graduating from Duke with a BSc in Computational Biology, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Francis Collins at the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), where I studied the molecular underpinnings of diabetes using genetic and genomic techniques. While at the NIH, I became acutely aware of the health inequities that persist worldwide, and I pursued training to prepare myself for a career focused on addressing systemic health inequities. During my doctoral training at Cambridge, I plan to combine my interests in human disease and health inequities to study the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) across diverse ancestries. It is my hope that my doctoral research will enhance the treatment and prevention of T2D for all people. I am immensely grateful and humbled to join the Gates Cambridge community, and I look forward to learning from the other scholars across diverse disciplines.

Previous Education

Duke University Computational Biology 2018