Directory

I grew up in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, the epicenter of the HIV epidemic. This greatly influenced my research interests. I pursued an undergraduate at the University of Cape Town, majoring in genetics and psychology, which gave me the ground tools to understand both the basic science research and the human side of HIV infection. During my Master’s degree at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, I have been identifying the cellular HIV reservoir in lymph nodes from antiretroviral suppressed individuals. Whilst pursuing a PhD in Medicine at Cambridge, I will seek to understand how different cell types that make up the cellular HIV reservoir interact and become permissive to HIV infection. By understanding these interactions, I will be able to identify key pathways that can be manipulated therapeutically to reduce or eradicate the HIV reservoir, allowing for a functional cure. Achieving a functional cure is of immense importance as we currently do not have a cure and it is unsustainable for individuals living with HIV to take daily medication for the rest of their lives, especially in the developing world, where access to medication may be limited. I am honoured to be a part of the Gates Cambridge community and look forward to working and collaborating with like-minded scholars who are committed to improving the lives of others.

Previous Education

University of Kwazulu-Natal Virology 2019
University of Kwazulu-Natal Genetics 2017
University of Cape Town Genetics & Psychology 2015

I am interested in exploring how environmental experiences affect gene expression in relation to acquisition and heritability of disease. At Cambridge, I completed an MPhil focusing on chromatin regulation in the nematode C. elegans.

As an undergraduate studying chemistry and biology at the College of William & Mary, I have had the opportunity to pursue several different research projects that span a spectrum of subjects from developmental biology to physical chemistry. As I have worked to understand the mechanisms regulating stem cell maintenance or to develop an assay that assesses small molecule-microRNA interactions, I have been impressed by the power of scientific research to not only reveal new information about our environment, but also to integrate ideas from disparate disciplines to generate novel solutions for our most difficult problems. At Cambridge, I will work to further develop spectroscopic techniques for the study of protein aggregation relevant to Parkinson’s disease in the Laser Analytics research group in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. I am honored to be able to undertake this project with the support of the Gates community.

I grew up in Los Fresnos, Texas on the southern border of the USA. I speak Spanish and am very proud of my Mexican heritage. I attended university in Baltimore, MD studying Materials Science and Engineering. The city of Baltimore, with its rich history, has become a second home to me. In my undergraduate career, I have worked on a wide variety of materials science related questions from improving the strength of cement, to simulating the fracture of amorphous polymer systems, to creating hybrid organic-inorganic p-n junctions. At Cambridge I will be focusing on understanding charge transfer in organic solar cells in an effort to improve their efficiency. Organic solar cell technology is rich with not only academic discovery but also huge potential to improve the lives of people living without access to electricity.

As a Gates Cambridge Scholar at the University of Cambridge, I completed my doctoral studies at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology with Dr. David Barford. My work involved using cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM), X-ray crystallography, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to study cell cycle regulation. My most exciting discovery was solving the molecular mechanism by which phosphorylation of a cell cycle checkpoint protein, Bub1, triggers kinetochore recruitment of another cell cycle checkpoint, Mad1. For this research I was awarded the Inaugural Whelan Young Investigator Award from the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) and went on to co-found and lead an IUBMB initiative to support trainees.

After my PhD I returned to the USA, where I am now a protein designer at a Seattle-based start-up company called Monod Bio which uses de novo protein design and machine learning methods to create the next generation of therapeutic biosensors.

Previous Education

University of St Andrews

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elyse-fischer-152335151

Previous Education

University of Oregon

My undergraduate career at Louisiana State University has consisted of a unique and interdisciplinary array of influential experiences in medicine, science and public health, which have fueled my aspirations in making a meaningful impact in the rare diseases sector. Through clinical experience in chronic pain management as a phlebotomist and electrocardiogram technician, I developed a passion in serving underrepresented patient communities with unmet medical need. I’ve had the enriching opportunity to investigate primary immunodeficiencies and the development of gene-based therapies for debilitating genetic disorders, including hemophilia and neurofibromatosis, at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and at The Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. This work has been greatly complemented by my studies in genetics and cancer immunology at the Pasteur Institute in Lille, France. With the intention of fostering evidence-based policy to improve healthcare access for individuals suffering from rare diseases, I have explored economic, ethical and public health-related obstacles in orphan drug development and distribution. Looking forward, I am eager and honored to begin my scientific journey at Cambridge, among scholars who are committed to the betterment of humanity, where I seek to investigate the molecular pathogenesis of and therapy development for lysosomal storage disorders under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Cox.

Previous Education

Louisiana State University & Agricultural & Mechan

I have come to Cambridge after working for the last few years as an advocate on International Development Issues. My main areas of work have been past and current Australian aid and trade policy towards developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the impact of mining, oil and gas on developing countries and communities. I have also done some advocacy work on reform of certain global financial markets and institutions. For my PhD I hope to explore generally the origins and history of globalisation and intenational development, with a particular focus on the forces and institutions that produced the predominance of a particular model of development thinking.

Born and raised in Sweden, I moved to the UK in 2012 to study chemistry at Imperial College London. I was immediately captured by the science of constructing organic molecules. In the sense that organic chemistry is often about constructing things, it is somewhat similar to engineering but with a fundamental twist - we can’t see anything that we make. This makes the field really exciting and having done research in various areas of chemistry at Stockholm University, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, my PhD will focus on the functionalisation of carbon-hydrogen bonds. This area holds huge promise since these bonds exist in essentially every organic molecule important to human life and the ability to transform them will likely prove crucial in the development of drugs and functional materials in the future. My research will also make use of automated, computer-controlled technology which is currently transforming the chemical science as we know it. I am absolutely thrilled to be able to carry out this research in Cambridge over the coming years and to join the Gates Cambridge community of scholars from all over the planet.

Previous Education

Imperial College London

Born in the Philippines, I moved to California in 1989. My past education and experience have been grounded in environmental engineering, specifically water and sanitation issues, but I hope to explore related socio-economic and policy issues at Cambridge. My research here is focused on developing ecological sanitation alternatives for urban areas in both developing and industrialized countries. I'm also hoping to round out my technical education with courses in the humanities and interactions with people from other disciplines. After Cambridge, I plan to return to public service and eventually pursue a leadership position in environmental management and policy.

In college, I came to study German almost accidentally, drawn by inspiring professors. There I found my intellectual home, but I became part of other communities as well, through soccer, running, and volunteer programs. I taught a writing class at the local arts council and directed a mentoring program that matched Princeton students with local children. Thanks to a DAAD Fellowship for study in Berlin in 2007-2008, I was able to continue research I had done for my senior thesis on medieval Geman courtly love poetry. At Cambridge and later at UC Berkeley, I deepened and broadened my study of medieval German literature. My MPhil and PhD research focused on the aesthetics and politics of courtly lyric. I examined the literary techniques that poets used to craft individual personae to distinguish themselves as members of an aesthetic elite. Since finishing the PhD, I have worked in politics and government in Washington state, where I am now a speechwriter for the Senate Democratic Caucus at the state legislature.

Currently working in the Finance industry in Singapore.

Since my PhD, studying the biophysical properties of proteins involved in genetic disease, I've moved to a few different research areas, all linked to health. I shifted first to bioinformatics, then to public health and clinical trials. Geographically, I moved from Cambridge to Paris, for a three year fellowship at the Pasteur Institute, and then back to Cambridge (UK) where I live now.

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

The focus of my MBA is international entrepreneurship, as well as its socially transformative role. Previously, I studied philosophy and law, and worked as a clerk to an appellate Justice, then as a diplomat and trade negotiator. I have very broad interests, so I'm looking forward to learning from the diverse range of talented, excited, people I will meet at Cambridge. I hope to collaborate with others to identify new opportunities at a university famed for its innovation in a wide variety of fields, including in applied sciences.

I come from Cuiabá, a city right in the middle of South America. Unfortunately, my home state, Mato Grosso, is one of the most homophobic states in Brazil, which is why I always present myself as one of the few openly gay Federal Prosecutors in Brazil. Representation matters! Academically, in 2010, I was one of the first students from the Federal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil, to attend the Hague Academy of International Law. I have a Master of International Law from the University of Cambridge and was awarded a Jennings Award from Wolfson College for my performance at the LLM. Also, I was awarded a Golden Award at Cambridge for my activities at the Cambridge Pro Bono Project. Professionally, in 2015, I was the youngest Judge at the Mato Grosso State Court. In 2016, I became a Federal Prosecutor and have been working with human rights and criminal law. During the LLM, I was deeply interested in international humanitarian law. Therefore, because I am part of the LGBTQIA+ community and wanted to investigate how armed conflicts affect vulnerable groups, for my PhD, I plan on researching how international humanitarian law can protect LGBTQIA+ persons (combatants and non-combatants) during and after wars.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Master of Laws 2022
Fundação Escola do Ministerio Law 2012