Directory

Growing up in bucolic Connecticut, I am the girl who saved ants from being squished on the playground, the girl who sat still for hours waiting for a dragonfly to land on my nose. My fate was sealed from an early age: I am an insect lover. As an undergraduate at Pomona College, I studied the impacts of habitat fragmentation, urbanization, and fire on pollinator assemblages. In a time of intense land use change, I am interested in how targeted habitat modifications can help conserve insect diversity. For example, planting native wildflowers next to monocrop agricultural fields enhances bee habitat, increases bee abundances, and may also improve crop yields. I am passionate about igniting sustainable action through education. I am committed to mentoring the next generation to preserve insect biodiversity. With my PhD in Zoology, I hope to become a professor. In the long-term, I aspire to work with global organizations such as the United Nations to champion agricultural mitigation efforts that may be adopted worldwide, allowing pollinators and humans to more harmoniously coexist. I am honored to be selected as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, joining an extraordinary community of learners committed to promoting positive change worldwide.

Previous Education

Pomona College Biology 2022

**Preeti will commence her PhD study in 2023.

Previous Education

Oxford University Criminology 2022
Harvard University Law 2019
National Law University Odisha Law 2014

Dr Anjali Bhardwaj-Datta obtained her PhD in History from University of Cambridge, where her thesis was awarded Ellen MacArthur Prize in Economic History. Currently, she is an Isaac Newton-Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Centre of South Asian Studies, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, where she is working on her book manuscript, and a new project on women's informalities and patterns of urban change in Modern South Asia.

Visiting India each summer as I grew up in Maryland, I not only developed a deep appreciation for the beauty of Sanskrit and the rhythm of the Tabla, but also a keen interest in the issue of access to healthcare technology in resource-limited settings. As an undergraduate at Harvard studying Applied Mathematics/Economics with a secondary in Global Health & Health Policy, I founded UniDx, an organization focused on the early-stage diagnosis of infectious diseases using microfluidics-based technology. I traveled to both Peru and India to conduct clinical studies on the low-cost device for individuals with malaria. While there, I found that pure technological solutions were simply not enough to remedy pressing global health problems; rather, a more integrated approach addressing the relevant social, political, and economic barriers was required. Through an MPhil in Technology Policy at Judge Business School, I hope to learn how to better launch technologies in developing countries with a strong understanding of the countries’ local contexts. While at Cambridge, I am particularly excited to interact with faculty who research access to care, as well as be in a community of scholars who will challenge my beliefs and allow me to rethink my perspectives on healthcare. I am so grateful to be joining the Gates Cambridge community, and very eager to be surrounded by a group of intellectuals who are committed to improving the lives of others through scholarship and community engagement.

Previous Education

Harvard University

I am a resident physician in Internal Medicine at the Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital who interested in global women's health, health equity, and infectious diseases. I completed an MPhil in Geography at the University of Cambridge and studied the demographics of female-selective abortion in India. My work has included analysis of HIV mother-to-child transmission and development of cervical cancer screening technology.

Previous Education

University of Pennsylvania BA in Biology, Health & Societies (Global Health), and South Asian Studies 2014

Since I graduated from Cambridge I have moved to the San Francisco Bay Area originally in order to join a federally-funded (MBDA and SBA) business consulting company serving minority and women-owned businesses in low-income communities. However, since then, I have moved on to be a Business Analyst with Broadlane, a nationally renowned health-care sourcing organization, in downtown San Francisco, CA.

Alex Davies He made the first Twitter happiness map of the world, appeared on BBC World News as an emoticon expert and did some real work during his PhD as well. He currently works at Google on machine intelligence for productivity.

Global Anthropologist —— Scholar of Africa and the African Diaspora

Previous Education

University of California-Berkeley African American Studies 2006
New York University; The Gallatin School Africana political pedagogies in Francophone and Lusophone contexts 2004

Links

https://www.sd162.org/Domain/2049
http://UlonoGPS.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-c-davis-iv-phd-7504141a

I come from a sub-tropical Australian city, and have strong family ties to rural and outback Australia. Having always lived in a relatively remote area, I am looking forward to the stimulation and connectedness of Cambridge. My interest in human systems and psychology was developed over a series of research projects looking at human interaction from a variety of perspectives, including criminology, developmental psychology, human behavioural ecology, conservation psychology, and cross-cultural behavioural economics. Volunteering in a women's legal aid centre inspired my passion for gender equality and interest in gender development. During my PhD I hope to learn about cross-cultural differences in gender development, and male and female societal roles, through fieldwork in a remote Pacific Island community. I am hugely excited to have this wonderful opportunity to learn and grow as part of the Gates Cambridge community.

My research was driven by an interest in the interactions between humans and their environment. Using lake sediment records, I could track changes in paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. This information can contribute to our understanding of human-climate-environment interactions in the past. My PhD focused on environmental and hydrologic change at Angkor and Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia over the last 2,000 years. Currently, am I a facilitator and project manager supporting collaborative solutions to water and hydropower processes.

Links

https://kearnswest.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbdayphd

I studied medicine at Radboud University (the Netherlands). During my studies I realised that, whilst working in medicine is both extremely rewarding and challenging, there are many patients for whom curative treatments are not available. This sparked my interest in translational research; I want to make a contribution to get science from the ‘bench to the bedside’ to improve the outcomes for patients. Therefore, I intermitted my medical degree to undertake an MPhil at the University of Cambridge, supervised by Dr Mark Toshner and Dr Chris Wallace. We investigated the link between autoimmunity and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH); a rare but deadly cardiovascular disease. We found that a significant subset of PAH patients had a clear autoimmune signature. I was keen to further investigate this, which led me to apply for a PhD after completing my medical degree. In my PhD, I aim to identify the mechanisms mediating the link between autoimmunity and PAH as well as biomarkers associated with autoimmunity in PAH. In the future, this may result in personalised treatment and better outcomes for PAH patients. I am delighted to become a part of the community of Gates Cambridge Scholars and look forward to start in Cambridge!

Previous Education

Radboud University Nijmegen Medicine 2023
University of Cambridge Translational Biomedical Research 2020
Radboud University Nijmegen Medicine 2019

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 Curitiba, Paraná, in Southern Brazil, I have always been passionate about history and religion. As an undergraduate at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, I became interested in how non-Christian practices and beliefs were viewed and dealt with in a Christian environment. My research and dissertation explored the idea of ‘maleficium’ in Regino of Prum’s ‘Canon episcopi’ and, later, my MA dissertation focused on how penance was used to regulate sexual practices in the 11th century ‘Corrector sive medicus’ as well as superstitions and magic. During my PhD at Cambridge I will study both the Valais Witchcraft trials (1428-c. 1436) and the accusations against the Waldensians in the second half of the 15th century, and how they compare to confessors manuals. My proposal for this thesis builds upon an ongoing interest in the formation of the stereotypical image of so-called ‘witches’ and its medieval origins. My research aims to focus on a comparison between the trials and the confession manuals in order to find out where they share similarities with inquisitorial culture and where they differ from it.

Previous Education

Universidade Federal do Parana History 2021
PUCPR History 2016

Marlen is a technical expert at the United Nation's International Labour Organization (ILO). Her work focuses on sustainable growth and decent work in SMEs. For the past 10 years, Marlen has been committed to promoting sustainable entrepreneurship and enterprise development as a researcher and practitioner. Prior to joining the ILO, she held positions with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the German Government, and as a researcher and instructor at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlen-de-la-chaux-11479b67

My path toward studying security and resilience began during a gap year in Paris, where I watched debates about terrorism, policing, and national identity play out not just in headlines but in daily life—on trains, in classrooms, and in conversations with friends from across the city. Living there made it clear that security policies are not abstract; they shape how people feel they belong. That experience led me to study political science and peace, war, and defense at UNC Chapel Hill, where my research examines how counterterrorism measures affect public trust and democratic legitimacy. Outside the classroom, I am a coxswain and have trained with both U.S. and French national team programs, learning to make calm decisions in high-pressure environments and to lead across cultures. At Cambridge, I hope to study global risk and resilience to understand how institutions can navigate uncertainty while preserving legitimacy. I am excited to join a community committed to principled, globally minded public service.

Previous Education

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Political Science and Peace, War and Defence 2026