Current Scholars

I became interested in the brain and mind when I was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 13. I pursued a BA in Psychology at Ryerson University, where I became interested in the development and treatment of cognitive biases in mood disorders. While volunteering on the Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Unit of Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, I developed an interest in designing treatments for cognitive and emotional difficulties in individuals with an ABI that account for their unique impairments. To further my knowledge of ABI, I obtained an MSc in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Many people with an ABI have symptoms of depression, but available methods of treating mood disorders such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy fall short because they rely heavily on domains often compromised in ABI, such as mental flexibility, comprehension, and memory. As a student in the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, I will investigate whether depression in ABI can be treated by increasing engagement in positive activities, and whether this treatment can be enhanced through cognitive training to facilitate planning and engagement in such activities. If effective, this research could immediately influence rehabilitation services worldwide.

Previous Education

Ryerson University
McMaster University

As an undergraduate in Physics at the University of Oxford, I became fascinated with applying physical, mathematical and computational methods to biology. One area, where these have already had a big impact, is in our understanding of evolution, and my current research is on modelling evolution in Professor Ard Louis’ group in Oxford, where the focus is on studying genotype-phenotype maps as these allow us to model both variation and selection. Last summer, I analysed the properties of the genotype-phenotype map of the model system of biomorphs and I am currently working on the causes and effects of bursts in the production of alternative phenotypes. At Cambridge, I will join Dr Sebastian Ahnert’s group and I am excited about exploring characteristics of new genotype-phenotype maps and their implications for evolutionary dynamics. My goal is to pursue a career in research because I have enjoyed the process of answering open-ended questions in my research projects over the last two years: I have gained insights into experimental work in atomic physics, data analysis in astronomy, and computational work in biological physics, not only in the UK, but also as a Hoffleit Scholar at Yale University in the US and at the University of Stuttgart in Germany. Outside of research and academics, I have taught lessons about environmental issues at a school in Oxford and have organised and run weekly physics talks and classes as president of the Oxford University Physics Society.

Previous Education

University of Oxford

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

Having worked in a variety of roles across Asia and eastern Africa with the UN, INGO's and government focusing on disaster displacement, human rights and shelter, I returned to academia via a MSc in International Animal Health at the University of Edinburgh. My thesis research on ‘Animal health programming in humanitarian and development assistance in Somalia’ showed the gaps and need for high quality research and critical assessment to improve the evidence base for policy and program development. For my PhD in Veterinary Medicine I will study the prevalence of zoonoses - diseases transmitted between animals and humans - in displaced populations, addressing some of the most pressing global challenges of the next decade: climate change, displacement and emerging infectious diseases. Disease transmission between wildlife and livestock, the increased risk of zoonoses in areas where people and animals with weakened immune systems live closely together, and the emergence of infectious diseases among naive host communities are areas that need to be increasingly researched. Gaining a better understanding of disease prevalence and dynamics, control and prevention will improve the well-being of both humans and animals, with the aim to influence and improve institutional responses. I am incredibly honored that I can pursue this important field of study at the University of Cambridge with the support of the Gates Scholarship, and look forward to becoming a part of the community.

Previous Education

Technische Universiteit Delft
The University of Edinburgh

Early marriage and bridal trafficking in Rajasthan, sexual violence in Mumbai, female circumcision among Dawoodi Bohras: my experiences as a journalist and researcher have exposed me to diverse geographies, socio-economic realities and cultural prejudices that young women across India face. Home, however, is the place where I first found my bearings. As a survivor of domestic violence, my feminism got defined by my mother's everyday negotiations within the structures that cultivate and normalise the culture of silence. It drove me to challenge patriarchal notions of leadership and become sensitive to differences. Gender became a way of seeing the world. Backed by my rich field insights, multimedia skills and a feminist consciousness, I am excited to return to Cambridge to pursue my PhD as a Gates Cambridge scholar. My study straddles the areas of climate justice and gender equality. In India's historically drought-prone and caste-ridden Marathwada region, I seek to combine a multi-sited feminist ethnography with an informed interpretation of oral folk poetry, to understand the historical compulsions, lived experiences and gendered labour burdens of Dalit and Adivasi girls in a climate crisis. My fundamental interest in pursuing the project stems from my yearning to reconcile collaborative storytelling with pressing marginalised realities.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Multi-disciplinary Gender Stud 2017
Tata Institute of Social Sciences Media and Cultural Studies 2015

Previous Education

University of South Florida Bachelor of Science in Public Health 2018
Hillsborough Community College Associate of Arts in Chemistry 2016

I graduated from the University of Florida with highest honours and the equivalent of class valedictorian. There, I completed my B.S. degree double majoring in Chemistry and Cognitive/Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in Philosophy. My previous research involvements have varied widely, ranging from healthcare disparities to behavioral neuroscience to stem cell biology to synthetic chemistry and pharmacology. I ultimately gravitated towards chemistry because I saw the unique power chemists possess to develop novel therapies and therefore profoundly improve an indefinite number of lives. Under the auspices of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, I will be reading for an MPhil in Chemistry at Christ’s College, working in the Gonçalo Bernardes research group with the aim of developing new, more selective cancer therapeutics. In this project, we have chosen a bold and innovative approach of using quadruple helical DNA structures as platforms to hold both cancer-targeting antibodies and cancer-cell-killing drugs. Further, I will develop synthetic methods to chemically link these different classes of biomolecules (i.e., DNA and protein). With these novel and beautiful structures, we hope to circumvent the poor efficacy and terrible side effects of current, standard-of-care chemotherapy and increase the therapeutic utility of first generation antibody-drug conjugates, with the ultimate goal improving human life and patient outcomes.

Previous Education

University of Florida

As a child, two of my favourite books were a collection of Greek myths, mainly from the Iliad and the Odyssey, and a biography of Alexander the Great; both a love for books and a curiosity for the past have stayed with me since. I was lucky to grow up in Italy first, then in Belgium, and when I made the leap across the Channel to study History at Cambridge I already saw myself as a European citizen. My fascination for the philosophes of the Enlightenment initially lured me towards the eighteenth century, but a combination of chance and opportunity led me to focus on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries instead. As I researched the history of a Florentine family relocating to South Germany in the midst of the Thirty Years’ War for my Master’s, I found in the past some parallels with my own experience of transnational movement. For my PhD I will cross not just national but also disciplinary boundaries, investigating the uses of hydraulic knowledge and expertise across three early modern cities, Florence, Augsburg, and Amsterdam. Retracing the careers of hydraulic experts responsible for monumental fountains and mundane sewage systems alike, my work will be at the crossroads between the history of science, art history, and environmental history. In particular, I intend to contribute to the field of water history, which has very concrete implications for the present, and for ensuring that we can continue to hold water in shared and sustainable possession with fellow humans.

Previous Education

Birmingham City University Education (Primary) 2019
University of Cambridge Early Modern History 2017
University of Cambridge History 2016

With undergraduate degrees in Italian and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and past research experience in primate behaviour and orthopaedics, I might seem at first a bit of an unusual candidate for a PhD in Psychiatry. My interests in child and adolescent mental health and appreciation for population approaches to improving health and wellbeing developed through my work at Yale and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. I am particularly interested in understanding the role of schools in mental health promotion and prevention. In 2016-17, I completed my MPhil in Public Health at Cambridge with a research focus on the acceptability of school-based identification of mental health difficulties. For my PhD, I will continue to work with Professor Peter Jones, Dr Emma Howarth, and Professor Mina Fazel (Oxford) on this research as we design, implement, and evaluate different models of school-based identification. By increasing early identification rates, we hope to improve access to care and support for children and young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties and ultimately improve their long-term psychosocial outcomes. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to spend another three years in Cambridge surrounded by inspiring mentors, colleagues, and friends, and am honoured and excited to join the Gates Cambridge community!

Previous Education

Yale University
University of Cambridge

After seeing firsthand how the law impacted the daily lives of women through the Undocumented Migration Project or on the National Human Trafficking Hotline, I felt compelled to study the construction of laws and the cultural attitudes which influence them. Through an MPhil in Gender Studies at Cambridge, I was able to explore how stereotypes about immigrants and sex workers impacted data gathering, victim assistance, and ultimately limited the scope of the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015. I am humbled to be returning to the Gates Scholar’s Community to expand this project through a PhD in Gender Studies. By constructing a genealogy of anti-trafficking law stretching back to the White Slave Panics of the late 1800’s, I aim to show that anti-trafficking laws are currently constrained by xenophobic thought. It is my hope that this work will refocus anti-trafficking policy to human rights and survivor support as the most effective tools in combating trafficking. When not writing about human trafficking, I can be found baking, boxing, or fastidiously reorganizing my to-do lists.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge MPhil Gender Studies 2018
University of Michigan Bachelor of Arts Anthropology 2016

As an undergraduate researcher at the Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence and Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, I grew particularly interested in exploring the impact of psychosocial stress on neurological subsystems. In my capacity as director of the Yale Wellness Project, I helped design and conduct a large-scale study aimed at better understanding the role of stress in student life, and mitigating its more deleterious neural effects through the implementation of targeted interventional efforts. At Cambridge’s MRC CBU, my PhD will focus on exploring the neuroscientific relationship between stress and memory control, or, more broadly, motivated forgetting, through a combination of neuroimaging and molecular paradigms. From a clinical standpoint, memory control as such refers to a cognitive process that involves the active suppression of emotionally valent memories in response to environmental triggers, and thereby constitutes a barrier to negative affective states. This bears particular relevance to mental health science for the clinical treatment of mood and anxiety-related disorders. My goal is to better understand the mechanisms guiding the interaction between stress and motivated forgetting in an effort to inform potential treatment methodologies for psychological disorders by enhancing cognitive emotion regulation. I am profoundly honored to be a part of the Gates Cambridge community, and its network of scholars dedicated to bettering the human condition.

Previous Education

Yale University Bachelor of Science in Psychology 2018

While growing up next to the library in Cockeysville, Maryland, I came to love stories. After reading hundreds of books, I consider the grandest origin story to be the curious saga of how we developed from a single cell into who we are today. Even more exciting to me is that this remarkable journey still has many questions left unanswered. To explore this further, I am pursuing a degree in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and conducting research in autism spectrum disorder and cortical development in the Arlotta Lab. Through this research and my coursework, I became interested in how the nervous and immune systems communicate with each other in sickness and in health. During my PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, I will explore this theme in Andrew McKenzie’s group and I aim to interpret the dialogue between the nervous system and innate lymphoid cells. I hope that this research of fundamental interactions will empower the field to understand neuro-immune diseases better. I am immensely excited and grateful to join the vibrant and passionate community of Gates Cambridge Scholars.

Previous Education

Harvard University AB Developmental Biology 2019

During my undergraduate studies at the University of Belgrade, School of Medicine, I have found myself taking an interest in the study of diabetes, being driven by the idea of improving the quality of lives of patients suffering from this disabling disease that affects millions of people everywhere around us. Impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia in many long-standing insulin-treated diabetic patients is one of the barriers separating them from achieving tight glycaemic control, which is imperative in reducing the occurrence and severity of micro and macrovascular complications. Throughout my MPhil at the University of Cambridge, Department of Medicine, I will focus on elucidating the mechanisms of blunted awareness of hypoglycaemia. Unravelling this problem would make a big step towards the start of development of therapeutic options to treat or even prevent it. I would be elated if my research and efforts contribute to this goal. It is an absolute honour to be a part of the Gates Cambridge community, comprised of inspiring and devoted scholars from all over the world, united for the greatest cause - improving the lives of others.

Previous Education

University of Belgrade

While studying at Carleton College in Minnesota and working as a park ranger at my local national park in coastal California, I found myself drawn to the unexpected connections between storytelling, history, environment, and justice. I centred my undergraduate and postgraduate research around these interdisciplinary interests, obtaining a B.A. in American Studies at Carleton and an M.Sc. in Environment, Culture and Society as an Avangrid Scholar at the University of Edinburgh. In my doctoral research in Geography at the University of Cambridge, I will study geographies, histories, and narratives of grey whale migration and conservation along the North American Pacific Coast. Through this work, I aim to examine how stories affect perceptions of historical encounters and outcomes of contemporary encounters, and to assess how storytelling interacts with issues of justice. In addition, I am passionate about public engagement, access, and accessibility. My interest in public engagement and access has been shaped by professional, academic, and service experiences, including volunteering as an environmental educator and education consultant, organizing Carleton’s first ‘BioBlitz’, serving as a resident assistant and public scholarship fellow at Carleton, supporting a local city council member’s environmental justice advocacy, and conducting independent research on environmental history, ethics, and aesthetics with Channel Islands National Park. As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I hope to collaborate with other Scholars and Cambridge community members to promote equitable access to research, education, and storytelling.

Previous Education

University of Edinburgh Master of Science Environment, Culture & Society 2017
Carleton College Bachelor of Arts American Studies 2016

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

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

During my Nanotechnology Engineering degree at the University of Waterloo, I have come to understand the importance of interdisciplinarity. Being taught everything from biochemistry to controls systems, my research background has been broad from photonic metasurfaces and plasmonic biosensors at Harvard to Bose-Einstein condensates at Cambridge, to muon physics at the Paul Scherrer Institute, and program management at Microsoft Japan doing coding work in machine learning. I will be pursuing a PhD in High Energy Physics at the ATLAS collaboration at Cambridge in the hopes of advancing our understanding of the universe beyond the standard model. My hope is that with a new breakthrough we will be able to stem a new blossoming of world-changing technology just like when Planck made his breakthrough 100 years ago. I am incredibly honoured to join the Gates Cambridge community, and as an interdisciplinary at heart, I am excited for the opportunities this community will give to stem new collaborations. Interdisciplinary collaborations with particle physics have yielded incredibly impactful results, from proton therapy for cancer treatment, to cosmic muon tomography for understanding how the Pyramids were built and the effects of global warming with respect to glacier melting. I also seek to address current issues in STEM outreach, such that we may ensure that every child can pursue their passion in spite of their cultural pressures.

Previous Education

University of Waterloo Nanotechnology Engineering 2019
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Exchange 2017

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

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