Gates Cambridge

Gates Cambridge Scholars have made a difference in many fields and none more so than in Biotechnology, where they have excelled in their academic research, set up new companies, worked at the interface of commerce and research to put new products on the market and set up organisations that promote biotechnology education. Others, such as Tom Tokovyi [2023], have become advisors to biotech firms.

Some started with a background in Biotechnology while others have migrated over from other subjects such as Chemistry. They include Andrew Robertson [2001], SVP and Head of Regulatory Affairs and Quality at Denali Therapeutics, who did his PhD in Genetics.

Here we focus on a handful of Scholars who have made, are making or will make an impact in the field. 

Kumar Thurimella [2020] is currently an Internal Medicine resident at Stanford, training through the Translational Investigator Programme (physician scientist track) with plans to specialise in Rheumatology. His research sits at the intersection of computational biology, B-cell immunology and clinical medicine.

He uses protein language models, structural AI and immune and clinical data to understand what pathogenic antibodies and B cells recognise, why these responses become disease-causing and how they can reveal biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

He says: “A central goal is to move beyond broad diagnostic labels towards more molecularly precise classification and treatment of autoimmune disease.”

The work builds on his PhD in Biotechnology at Cambridge, where he used machine learning to discover previously uncharacterised microbial proteins.

Kumar says his long-term aim is to combine clinical care in rheumatology with computational and experimental research to improve diagnosis and treatment for patients with immune-mediated diseases. 

Several Scholars are active in biotechnology enterprise. They include Ryan Geiser [2018], CEO and Co-Founder of Axiom Therapeutics, which harnesses quantum-accurate physics and machine learning to design covalent medicines - drugs designed to form a chemical bond with a specific molecular target - that maximise clinical benefit for patients.

Stan Wang [2011] is CEO and Founder of Thymmune Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a machine learning-enabled thymic cell engineering platform to restore normal immune function in aging and disease.

The company's cutting-edge approach in iPSC-thymic cell manufacturing can generate off-the-shelf cells at scale for a pipeline of therapies to treat immunodeficiencies, transplant-related and autoimmune disorders.

The company was acquired by United Therapeutics Corporation earlier this year.

Previously, Stan was Founding Chief Scientific Officer at Cellino Biotech.

He did his PhD in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at the University of Cambridge.

Chandler Robinson is Co-Founder and CEO of Monopar Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: MNPR), a clinical-stage biopharma company focused on rare disease and precision oncology.

He is leading development of ALXN1840, a novel first-in-class therapy for Wilson disease - a rare genetic disorder in which toxic copper accumulates in the liver and brain.  

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship helped enable the early development of the drug.

Monopar initiated a rolling NDA submission with the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] in July 2026. An NDA is a pharmaceutical company’s formal application to the FDA, presenting evidence of a new drug’s quality, safety and effectiveness for approval to market it.  Monopar received Rare Pediatric Disease Designation from the FDA in June 2026 and has presented neurologic-benefit data at major medical congresses over the past few months.

Chandler [2009], who did his MBA at Cambridge, is also advancing the novel MNPR-101 radiopharmaceutical platform for advanced solid cancers.

Other Scholars combine entrepreneurship and working in industry.

Luis Briseño-Roa [2001]  is Head of Translational Rare Diseases and Neurosciences at Ipsen. The position, he says, has shown him the breadth of expertise needed to bring a drug to market, from regulatory and commercial considerations to patient-care knowledge. It builds on previous work as Group Leader at HiFiBiO Therapeutics – a start-up combining microfluidics technology with immunotherapy development, as Associate Director of Alexion Pharmaceuticals which develops and markets therapies for rare and ultra-rare diseases and as an entrepreneur. 

Luis co-founded Medetia Pharmaceuticals, which supported programmes in drug discovery for several rare diseases where there was a lack of treatment available. He says: “Pharmaceutical companies have a role to play in finding a therapeutic solution for at least some of these diseases. Some are horrendous. As a dad, you realise the family burden they could bring."

Believing technology platforms have a growing role to play in drug innovation, Luis also founded Innvoi, a consultancy that helps technology companies reposition their offerings – turning “technology push” into genuine “drug-development pull” for pharma and biotech clients.

His PhD in Chemistry at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge had focused on enzyme technologies for neutralising nerve agents, using protein engineering to inactivate neurotoxins in an environmentally friendly way.

Julia Fan Li [2008] is the Co-Founder and CEO of Micrographia Bio Ltd and a former Gates Cambridge Trustee.

Her company has built a deep-tech system that uses artificial intelligence to facilitate bio-image analysis. The application of computer-vision machine-learning algorithms enables rapid, scalable development of models and analysis. By combining these algorithms with autonomous microscopy and molecular biology, the total effects of small molecule compounds within human cells can be interrogated.

Micrographia Bio’s platform is generating an atlas for modern drug discovery by matching the right compound to the disease it is best suited to cure.

Julia, who did her MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise and her PhD in Engineering, says: “It is Micrographia Bio’s fundamental belief that all diseases deserve a cure.” 

Stemming from her PhD research at Gates Cambridge, Julia originated, raised and deployed the world's first $108m Global Health Investment Fund with Lion's Head Global Partners and the 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.

Several recent Scholars have a focus on a particular aspect of biotechnology.

Pranav Ganta’s MPhil in Global Risk & Resilience [2025 ] allowed him to explore the different risk regimes that have emerged in the wake of the Covid pandemic and to put cyberbiosecurity and new vulnerabilities linked to big data and genomics under the microscope. 

Taryn Adams [2024] is one of a number of Scholars who have done an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise.

She has long been interested in bridging the gap between science and business in order to ensure science has practical, useful applications.

Coming from South Africa, she says the innovation that results from linking science and business, particularly in biotech, is still in its early stages, but she feels there is room to make a difference through applying existing technology to new fields.

Since leaving Cambridge she has been working as an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company.

Meanwhile, incoming Scholar Stephora Cesar-Alberi [2026] is doing her PhD in Biotechnology on using computer vision in microscopes.  Computer vision is a branch of AI that enables machines to interpret and analyse visual data, such as images and videos, using deep learning and convolutional neural networks to detect patterns, recognise objects and make informed decisions.  

The aim of Stephora’s PhD is to enhance microscopy image processing to make it faster and smarter, speeding up the finding of solutions to biomedical problems such as anti-microbial resistance.

She also wants to ensure that computer vision in microscopes is both reliable and affordable in the Global South where she hopes it can be used for diagnostics and treatment of the kind of infectious diseases such as malaria and cholera.

Dongyang Lan [2026] is also doing a PhD in Biotechnology which aims to develop patient-derived models of Parkinson’s disease to better understand disease mechanisms and contribute to therapeutic discovery.