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Ibrahim Abdou

  • Alumni
  • Egypt
  • 2019 PhD Architecture
  • Darwin College
Ibrahim Abdou

Ibrahim Abdou

  • Alumni
  • Egypt
  • 2019 PhD Architecture
  • Darwin College

As a younger student and architect, the paradox that is Cairo’s Urbanism had me spellbound. Cairo is a thrilling yet frustrating megacity of endless contradictions that malfunctions beautifully. Throughout studying and later teaching Architecture and Urban Design at the German University in Cairo, I derived immense gratification from trying to untangle the complexity of the city. I have been specifically interested in questions of housing, its provision, use and perception. Alongside, I was exposed to on-ground parallel participatory initiatives and urban research offices which tackle urgent issues in the city. Accordingly, I became inspired to passionately explore these issues as an MPhil student at the University of Cambridge. In my PhD, I aim to question the condition of housing vacancy, its differentiated categories, and varied underlying reasons and mechanisms of occurrence. As I continue to be exposed to further research on Cairo within a vibrant network of mentors and colleagues, my thirst for learning keeps increasing with a growing commitment in me to treat my education as a life-long endeavor. Yet, I believe research must be consistently geared to have meaningful impact on people’s lives. I am honored to belong to the Gates community and hope to use the platform to pursue my aspiration of becoming an academically well-grounded individual who is able to critically think, inspire, educate, advocate, mediate and ultimately drive meaningful change.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Architecture and Urban Studies 2019
German University in Cairo Architecture and Urban Design 2018
German University in Cairo Architecture and Urban Design 2016

Oluwasegun Afolaranmi

  • Scholar
  • Nigeria
  • 2021 PhD Medical Science at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute
  • Homerton College
Oluwasegun Afolaranmi

Oluwasegun Afolaranmi

  • Scholar
  • Nigeria
  • 2021 PhD Medical Science at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute
  • Homerton College

The idea of harnessing the immune system to treat cancer is fascinating to me. Moreover, during my medical training in Nigeria, I was deeply moved by the experiences of cancer patients, especially with the very limited treatment options available. This combination of curiosity and compassion inspired me to pursue a career at the intersection of excellent patient care and cutting-edge cancer research. I subsequently received the Clarendon scholarship for a Masters at the University of Oxford, where my research was on the innate immune cGAS-STING signalling in cancer, under the supervision of Dr Eileen Parkes. At Cambridge, I have joined Dr Maike de la Roche's group to explore how hedgehog signalling is orchestrated in cytotoxic immune cells during the antitumor response. Mechanistic insights from this work, and others, will potentially enable better design of advanced cellular therapies, bringing hope to numerous patients. Ultimately, I plan to contribute significantly to efforts aimed at expanding access to transformative therapies globally, and alleviate the unacceptable disparities currently observed. I feel incredibly honoured to have joined the Gates Cambridge community and look forward to an enriching experience with other young leaders from across the world.

Previous Education

University of Oxford Integrated Immunology 2021
University of Ibadan Medicine and Surgery 2019

Angello Alcazar

  • Scholar
  • Italy, Peru
  • 2023 PhD Spanish and Portuguese
  • Hughes Hall
Angello Alcazar

Angello Alcazar

  • Scholar
  • Italy, Peru
  • 2023 PhD Spanish and Portuguese
  • Hughes Hall

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

Samuel Allchurch

  • Alumni
  • Australia
  • 2012 MMus Choral Studies
  • Gonville and Caius College
Samuel Allchurch

Samuel Allchurch

  • Alumni
  • Australia
  • 2012 MMus Choral Studies
  • Gonville and Caius College

I am undertaking an MMus in Choral Studies, having completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. As a choral musician, I have been fortunate to have been heavily involved with Gondwana Choirs, Australia’s national choral organization for young people. I have also worked with the acclaimed Sydney Children’s Choir. At Cambridge, I hope to combine my academic interests in choral music with the practical conducting training. The opportunity to observe different choral musicians at work will provide essential experience to fulfill my aspiration to work as a professional conductor. I am passionate about increasing access to music education and performance opportunities for young people regardless of their physical location or socio-economic circumstance. I am keen to support musical outreach projects with an awareness of historical precedent and rigorous research processes.

Millicenta Ampiah Botsio

  • Scholar
  • Ghana
  • 2023 PhD Medical Genetics
  • Girton College
Millicenta Ampiah Botsio

Millicenta Ampiah Botsio

  • Scholar
  • Ghana
  • 2023 PhD Medical Genetics
  • Girton College

Growing up in Accra, Ghana, pursuing a career in science especially as a woman was not simple to navigate. My journey has taken me from a BSc in Biochemistry at KNUST, to an MSc in Clinical Embryology at the University of Oxford, with a specialisation in genomics of healthcare. My experiences have also motivated my active involvement in efforts to increase black, ethnic minority and disadvantaged representation across STEM globally. My PhD research at Cambridge focuses on the molecular characterisation of the role of E-box motifs and associated variants on the circadian expression of SCN5A, a gene linked to Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmias (ICAs). ICAs are rare diseases responsible for majority of sudden cardiac deaths in young people and infants. The goal is to establish the mechanistic basis of the role of the circadian clock in ICAs, which will provide novel insights into treatment routes. Ultimately, I want to contribute to firstly developing equitable and accessible solutions to genetic diseases, and secondly incorporating genomic technologies to strengthen the world’s most fragile health systems. Joining the Gates Cambridge Scholars’ community, I look forward to a transformative experience with other young global leaders.

Previous Education

University of Manchester Clinical Bioinformatics 2022
University of Oxford Clinical Embryology 2019

Ila Ananya

  • Alumni, Scholar
  • India
  • 2021 MPhil Social Anthropology
    2022 PhD Social Anthropology
  • Fitzwilliam College
Ila Ananya

Ila Ananya

  • Alumni, Scholar
  • India
  • 2021 MPhil Social Anthropology
    2022 PhD Social Anthropology
  • Fitzwilliam College

I came to anthropology through an interest in narrative, and a desire to rethink my engagement with fiction, life writing, reportage, and research – writing forms that I have been moving between since I was an undergraduate. As a journalist and a university teacher, I often found myself returning to read ethnographies, with their focus on producing work that centred our different subjectivities, and grappling with the ethical and conceptual challenges of navigating these. So far, my research has been concerned with the political lives of Indian students, what Indian higher educational spaces engender, and who they exclude. For my PhD, I hope to trace how young people from ‘Northeast’ India navigate the moral and affective aspects of their ‘becoming’ when they travel to ‘mainland’ Indian cities to study. Given the region’s history of state repression, ethnic tensions, and the racialised tendency of many Indians to homogenise their identities, I am interested in foregrounding friendship, intimacy, and aspiration, to understand how these young students relate to each other from across their social subjectivities and ethnic and class locations. I’m excited and humbled to be part of the Gates Cambridge community, and to continue to be challenged by and learn from my peers.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Social Anthropology 2022
School of Oriental & African Studies (University o Gender Studies 2018
St. Joseph's College, BU English, Journalism,Psychology 2017

Alicia Anderson

  • Scholar
  • Canada
  • 2022 PhD Physics
  • Trinity College
Alicia Anderson

Alicia Anderson

  • Scholar
  • Canada
  • 2022 PhD Physics
  • Trinity College

Growing up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, I started playing ice hockey when I was five years old. Years later, I was able to experience my dream of playing hockey at the collegiate level through an athletic scholarship at the University of Lethbridge (UL) where I studied physics. Throughout my undergraduate and MSc degrees at the UL, I have been a part of the Astronomical Instrumentation Group developing innovative instrumentation to explore the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. Now I will pursue a PhD in the Cambridge Astrophysics Group developing instrumentation for the detection of extrasolar planets. Recent advancements in technology will allow astronomers to spectroscopically measure variations in the orbits of sun-like stars induced by Earth-like planets, the next major advancement in the search for potentially habitable planets, and the subject of my PhD project. Alongside my studies, I am actively involved with the community of Lethbridge. Most recently, I have been volunteering with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization where I mentor a young individual who needs a consistent and supportive developmental relationship. Seeing them grow up and gain confidence has been my most rewarding experience.

Previous Education

University of Lethbridge Physics 2022
University of Lethbridge Physics 2020

Andrew Ashcroft

  • Alumni
  • Canada
  • 2001 PhD Engineering
  • Wolfson College
Andrew Ashcroft

Andrew Ashcroft

  • Alumni
  • Canada
  • 2001 PhD Engineering
  • Wolfson College

After completing my studies in Cambridge (2005), I spent time in Switzerland and London. After working as an oil trader for a major investment bank in London, I returned to North America in 2008. I currently live and work in Houston, TX with my beautiful wife Annie, our 2 young children, Evie and Jonah as well as our dog Malachy.

Onon Bayasgalan

  • Alumni
  • Mongolia
  • 2019 MPhil Conservation Leadership
  • Newnham College
Onon Bayasgalan

Onon Bayasgalan

  • Alumni
  • Mongolia
  • 2019 MPhil Conservation Leadership
  • Newnham College

I was born in Mongolia, a country that is the most sparsely populated and has the coldest capital in the world. I studied Environmental Economics and later Environmental Policy at Whitman College and Yale University, respectively. During my years of study, I was fascinated by how the valuation of environmental services can be used as a powerful tool to influence policies. More recently, I managed a market-based conservation project called the Sustainable Cashmere Project while at the Wildlife Conservation Society Mongolia program. As an MPhil in Conservation Leadership candidate, I am very interested in further exploring ways to incorporate sustainable practices and standards into supply chains. I believe that forging strong relations with committed industries is one of the key solutions to expanding the impact and influence of conservation principles around the world. I am also passionate about further supporting young environmentalists, which will build on the Environmental Fellowship Program that I initiated while working for the Zorig Foundation. I hope to see Mongolian conservationists play a more critical leadership role nationally by pushing to incorporate climate change sensitive policies, and globally by increasing our collaboration with other countries. As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I am very excited to be a part of a dynamic network of bright minds around the world that can cross-fertilize a rich array of ideas and experiences on innovative and pressing topics.

Previous Education

Yale University Environmental Policy 2013
Whitman College Environmental Economics 2009

Kofi Boakye

  • Alumni
  • Ghana
  • 2006 PhD Criminology
  • St Edmund's College
Kofi Boakye

Kofi Boakye

  • Alumni
  • Ghana
  • 2006 PhD Criminology
  • St Edmund's College

Kofi is an academic, a social entrepreneur and a mentor who is passionate about the development of young people and Africa. He moved to Clare Hall as a Junior Research Fellow after completing his MPhil and PhD at St Edmund’s College. His research takes an interdisciplinary approach to issues of crime and development with particular interest in youth and gender-based violence. Kofi has published widely in high-impact journals in the fields of psychology, law and criminology. He serves on several journal editorial boards. He has been a visiting fellow to universities in the US and Africa, including Cornell University School of Law, State University of New York and University of Ghana. Kofi is the founder of the Oxbridge African Mentorship Programme, a charity that provides mentoring for young talents in Africa. He is also co-founder of the African Institute for Crime, Policy and Governance Research, a think tank based in Ghana that promotes high quality research on crime, justice and governance issues to inform policy in Africa.

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kofi-boakye-0788285

Alberto Borges

  • Alumni
  • Kenya
  • 2022 MPhil Conservation Leadership
  • Wolfson College
Alberto Borges

Alberto Borges

  • Alumni
  • Kenya
  • 2022 MPhil Conservation Leadership
  • Wolfson College

I believe in a future where youngsters are the champions of extraordinary change in conserving landscapes, wildlife, and human livelihoods. My late father would take my mother, siblings, and me on adventures in nature during my childhood years. These curiosity-filled escapades led to the incidental discovery of a camel spider unknown to science at age 17. At that moment, I realized my career would involve wildlife conservation and the promotion of sustainable human livelihoods. My passion landed me a full scholarship to Catawba College for my Environmental and Sustainability undergrad studies. I secured several National Geographic, Woodspring Trust, and St. Luke's Episcopal Foundation grants to conduct impactful conservation projects in Marsabit and Athi River, Kenya. Earning the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship will empower me to pursue the MPhil in Conservation Leadership at Cambridge. My ultimate goal is to set up a Wilderness Conservation Centre in northern Kenya. To explore, research, and conserve its unique ecosystems through context-specific community-oriented programs. It will serve as a vital springboard for youth to learn and launch sustainable ventures, thus improving human lives and the natural world.

Previous Education

Catawba College Environment and Sustainability 2021

Maggie Celeste

  • Scholar
  • Ireland
  • 2019 PhD Astronomy
  • Trinity College
Maggie Celeste

Maggie Celeste

  • Scholar
  • Ireland
  • 2019 PhD Astronomy
  • Trinity College

Just 25 years ago, we had no evidence for planets outside our own solar system. Today, over 4000 exoplanets have been discovered. My research aims to determine how giant planets form by performing computer simulations of protoplanetary discs (discs of gas and dust that surround young stars, and are the birthplace of planets). Completing even a secondary-school level of education was not a given for me; in a family of six children, only three of us actually did, and I am the first in my family to attend university. The fact that I maintained a love of science and learning despite a difficult home life can be attributed directly to the inspiring teachers that I was lucky to have. One, in particular, hosted a 'math circle' for students after school, providing an accessible opportunity to explore the world of STEM outside of the classroom. I will always be thankful for that teacher, and for others like him. Those formative years of my life drive my passion for outreach today, and I strive for accessibility for all students, regardless of socioeconomic background. I am proud to say that my outreach endeavours currently include work with Sun Space Art, Cambridge Hands On Science (CHaOS), Nuffield research placements, and regular outreach with the Institute of Astronomy.

Previous Education

University of Dublin Trinity College Physics and Astrophysics 2019

Hei Yeung (Aland) Chan

  • Alumni
  • Hong Kong
  • 2019 PhD Plant Sciences
  • Downing College
Hei Yeung (Aland) Chan

Hei Yeung (Aland) Chan

  • Alumni
  • Hong Kong
  • 2019 PhD Plant Sciences
  • Downing College

Growing up in Hong Kong, I enjoy trekking through the city’s subtropical countryside. From a young age, I developed a passion to study and protect the wildlife I encounter. I completed my undergraduate studies and started my MPhil project at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge. At Cambridge, I realized how climate change, habitat degradation, and forest loss are not only threatening millions of species living in natural systems, but also destabilizing the environmental conditions that human civilization is built on. New technologies in remote sensing are starting to revolutionize our understanding of large scale patterns in forest ecology. During my PhD, I wish to utilize these newly available remote sensing datasets to study how forests resist and recover from extreme weather events, which are made more frequent by climate change. My hope is that such research will allow us to more efficiently manage natural systems and better control carbon emissions from tropical forests.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Biological Science 2019
University of Cambridge Natural Sciences 2018

Albert Chiou

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2007 MPhil Chemistry
  • Corpus Christi College
Albert Chiou

Albert Chiou

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2007 MPhil Chemistry
  • Corpus Christi College

As a Gates Scholar, I completed an MPhil in Chemistry, by research, in the laboratory of Professor David Klenerman. I studied the application of single molecule spectroscopy towards biomedicine. I am currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in Dermatology at Stanford. My main interest is the development and investigation of novel therapies for epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a severe genetic blistering disorder that can have detrimental effects on both young children and adults. I currently serve as a clinical trialist investigating novel gene therapy interventions for wounds related to EB, along with treatment of itch. I have also continued to work on translational projects focused on chemistry-based approaches to diagnosis of skin cancer. I invite you to read about one our recent projects using a non-destructive mass spectrometry-based imaging technology called desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MSI):
https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2018/06/11/molecular-car-wash-aims-to-make-skin-cancer-surgery-quicker-and-more-accurate/

Rodrigo Córdova Rosado

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2019 MPhil Archaeology
  • Sidney Sussex College
Rodrigo Córdova Rosado

Rodrigo Córdova Rosado

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2019 MPhil Archaeology
  • Sidney Sussex College

I grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, spending my weekends camping on mountaintops and coastlines, with my amazing parents, little brother, and friends, staring up at the starry night next to a warm fire. I always yearned to learn more about the night sky, a path that eventually led me to my undergraduate study of Astrophysics at Harvard University. I have researched several aspects of observational cosmology, the study and measurement of the earliest signals from the universe, and what they tell us about how the universe began, and its eventual fate. I have often partnered with several organizations to create outreach programs in which we teach young students, both in Boston and Puerto Rico, about the cosmic and human past, hoping to instill intellectual curiosity and empower them to pursue their passions. At the same time, I strove to understand humanity’s more immediate past by completing a secondary field in Archaeology, inspired by the questions I held concerning who had previously stared at the stars from those same coastlines in Puerto Rico. Embarking on an MPhil in Archeology of the Americas, with a focus on Archeoastronomy, I hope to illuminate the deep astronomical traditions of Ancient American peoples, and how these help inform our own conception of the universe, our history, and ourselves.

Previous Education

Harvard University Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) Astrophysics - Physics 2019

Henry Cousins

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2017 MPhil Bioscience Enterprise
  • St John's College
Henry Cousins

Henry Cousins

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2017 MPhil Bioscience Enterprise
  • St John's College

I am fascinated by the potential of emerging biomedical tools to treat new diseases. A native of Massachusetts, I graduated from Harvard University, where I studied neuroscience in several contexts, including retinal disease in premature infants, nontraditional symptoms in Alzheimer's disease patients, and synaptic patterning in the developing brain. More recently, I conducted thesis research into how young neurons decide to assemble specific circuits in the outer retina. While teaching children throughout the US and Southeast Asia, I have also witnessed the personal challenges of healthcare access around the world. These experiences have guided my belief that biomedical research must combine technical progress with new modes of development and distribution. At Cambridge I will pursue an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise, which will prepare me to address these questions through a career in medicine. Outside my studies I hope to continue my other interests in jazz music, youth coaching, and woodworking.

Previous Education

Harvard University

Zachary Dannelly

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2016 MPhil Technology Policy
  • Girton College
Zachary Dannelly

Zachary Dannelly

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2016 MPhil Technology Policy
  • Girton College

My passion for technology began as a junior at Christian Academy of Louisville. All 10 of us in the AP Computer Science class could take a unique path to the solution and still l not have exhausted all the options. This limitless world of possibilities inspired a young boy who wanted to make some binary contributions. Looking to pursue this drive while also continuing my family’s nine generations of contiguous military service, I looked towards the US Naval Academy for my undergraduate foundation. On major selection day, I rallied to the calling, and I joined the first ever group of Cyber Operations majors. This interdisciplinary degree offers a technical foundation in traditional computer science courses, while appreciating the importance of additional considerations within the domain by including policy and human factors classes. I plan to further develop my holistic exploration into this emerging cyber domain by studying for an MPhil in Technology Policy in the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. This education will provide the critical international aperture and public-private sector knowledge necessary to best fulfill my naval career as an Information Warfare Officer actuating US cyber directives. I am humbled to join the Gates Scholarship community and work with globally focused, deeply passionate scholars in a united passion to elevate the state of humanity across all domains and disciplines.

Previous Education

United States Naval Academy

Richard Dear

  • Scholar
  • United Kingdom, Australia
  • 2021 PhD Psychiatry
  • Trinity Hall
Richard Dear

Richard Dear

  • Scholar
  • United Kingdom, Australia
  • 2021 PhD Psychiatry
  • Trinity Hall

“Why do people suffer?” asked a 13-year-old boy with many passports, when he travelled and saw his privilege reflected in the eyes of the world. Born to two statistics professors he was curious about anything besides academia, and so left his Australian physics degree for the adventure of technology startups in China. He wandered to monasteries in Tibet, sat for ten days of silent meditation at the edge of a South African desert, and tried to appreciate all he was born with by working as a data scientist at Airbnb, in a gleaming office just around the corner from the tents of the homeless.

Depression clouded that young man's mind. Emerging on the other side thanks to care that so few can access, he wondered, “If even I, with all my comforts, feel such pain, perhaps Buddha was right that suffering begins in the mind?”

And so I left Silicon Valley for Cambridge to contribute what I can to depression research. Neuroscience is in a golden age, powered by technologies that link brain scans, genetics, and socioeconomics to drugs, therapy, and public policy. Yet we are challenged by the brain’s complex biology, inconsistent psychiatric diagnoses, archaic and unjust healthcare systems, and the dramatic increase in mental illness especially among youth. I am grateful for this chance to offer what I can to help others also find their way from suffering to happiness.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Neuroscience 2021
National University of Singapore Physics 2013
Australian National University Physics 2013