Directory

After completing my BA in Middle East and Asian Languages & Cultures at Columbia University in 2000, I took up a year-long Bosch Fellowship at the University of Leipzig, Germany, where I taught in both the departments of English and Applied Linguistics as well as advised students in the international office. I returned to New York and worked for five years at Columbia in project management and financial administration in the health services division before commencing postgraduate studies at Cambridge. I finished my PhD in German in 2012 and held two postdoctoral positions in Germany (Leibniz-Institute for European History) and in Canada (University of Calgary).I am currently the director of program and research support at Hearing Health Foundation, the largest private funder of hearing and balance research in the US. I continue to work as a translator from the German.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge MPhil, Modern & Medieval Languages 2007
Columbia University BA, Middle East & Asian Languages & Cultures 2000

Axel Gelfert is a Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the Technical University of Berlin, where he works at the intersection of social epistemology and philosophy of science and technology. He completed his PhD in History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge in 2005/06. He is the author of two monographs, A Critical Introduction to Testimony (Bloomsbury 2014) and How to Do Science With Models (Springer 2016), and a large number of research papers (e.g., "Fake News: A Definition", 2018). Prior to coming to Berlin, he spent more than a decade teaching at the National University of Singapore.

Links

https://www.philosophie.tu-berlin.de/menue/fachgebiete/theoretische_philosophie/prof_dr_axel_gelfert

I grew up in New York City and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I studied Physics. At MIT I became fascinated by the beauty and complexity of the Earth system, as well as the fundamental challenge of predicting the future climate. Through research projects at MIT, NOAA, and NASA, I have spent the past several years developing statistical methods for climate prediction. I am broadly interested in using novel mathematical and computational methods to make climate models more useful for climate adaptation. At Cambridge, I will obtain my MPhil in Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science. I will research the application of data-driven methods such as machine learning to the study of climate predictability. I believe that better climate models and prediction capabilities are crucial to addressing the impacts of climate change equitably and effectively. I am excited to join the global community of Gates Cambridge scholars dedicated to improving our changing world.

Previous Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Physics 2024

Hello, fellow Gates Scholars! Born and raised in New York, I completed my BS in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and am now going into the third year of my PhD at Cambridge (in Materials Science and Metallurgy). My research focus is inexpensive solar cells, which absorb light and convert it directly to electricity. As you might already know, the solar cells you find on the market today are too expensive to be cost-competitive with coal-based electricity, so we are trying to develop alternatives (ask me about this!). I also play rugby on the Cambridge Blues squad and encourage all who are interested to consider giving it a go! It’s a great opportunity to meet a lot of new people and try playing a sport that is probably brand new to you.

Although I grew up in New York City, I spent two years in Jerusalem and a gap year in rural Peru before completing an undergraduate degree in History, and Global Health and Health Policy at Princeton University. As a History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine student at Cambridge, I am committed to the interdisciplinary mission of interrogating science and medicine through the lens of humanities. I will study fourteenth-century bureaucratic documents, using paleographic and digital humanities methods to explore the local effects of the plague on class relations and Jewish-Christian interactions. I seek to understand the public health issues facing our societies today in the context of experiences centuries ago. It is my goal to bring this unique medievalist perspective and training to the public policy sphere where I aspire to highlight voices often excluded from bureaucratic systems, and facilitate deep historical, culturally-specific approaches to public policy creation.

Previous Education

Princeton University Bachelor's DegreeHistory & Global Health Policy 2019

At Middlebury College I pursued an independent major in Disability Studies and Social Determinants of Health. My junior thesis excavated the stories of women incarcerated against their will in United States asylums. I used theories of disability to conduct twenty interviews with people with disabilities in corporate positions. When employees do not disclose disabilities, companies do not grant workplace accommodations or include people with disabilities in diversity metrics. As a result of my studies the Middlebury Center for Career and Internships created a position where I serve as a peer-specialist in career counseling for students with disabilities. I continued this work as a disability policy intern for the Senate HELP Committee I collaborated closely with disabled constituents and advocacy organizations, As a student of history and both gender and disability studies, I am drawn to Cambridge’s MPhil in Health, Medicine and Society as a program that will let me weave together these distinct disciplines. This degree will prepare me for a future career in disability policy and accessibility. Ultimately, studying at Cambridge will equip me to help reshape institutions and create a more accessible future.

Previous Education

Middlebury College Disability Studies 2023

After completion of my MD studies, I began working as a resident in the department of Neurosurgery at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany under guidance of Prof. Volker Seifert. During my residency and my recent research I became interested in the interaction between coagulation factors and tumour cells. Driven by the idea of interdisciplinary approaches to develop novel treatment strategies, I am honoured to be starting my PhD project in the laboratory of Dr. Stefano Pluchino in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences with the generous support of the Gates Cambridge Trust. My research focuses on the interaction between neural stem cells and the immune system. In the future, I want to combine my passion for clinical and experimental research to improve the treatment of patients as a surgeon-scientist.

I grew up in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. At high school, I became involved with my local observatory. There, I began to realise my passion for trying to understand the mysteries of the universe; what is the universe made of, and how did it come to be today? As an undergraduate, I studied a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) with Honours, majoring in Physics at the University of Adelaide. In my final year project, I investigated the effect of dark matter in the sun. I have also been passionately involved in initiatives aimed at improving the lives of university students, such as the Adelaide University Sciences Association, and the Australian Government Office of Learning and Teaching.My goal at Cambridge is to help shed more light on the contemporary problems in theoretical physics. In particular, I will be investigating extensions to the Standard Model of particle physics to explain phenomena such as gravity and dark matter. Through experiments like the Large Hadron Collider and astrophysical and cosmological observations, we can probe for new physics that will provide deeper understanding of our universe and drive technological innovation for generations to come. The Gates Cambridge scholarship will enable me to be at the forefront of groundbreaking research such that I can make a valuable contribution to the knowledge of humankind.

Previous Education

University of Exeter
University of Adelaide

Dr. Mohammad Ghassemi is a distinguished scientist and entrepreneur with extensive experience leading AI initiatives. He holds a Ph.D from the MIT in computer science, with a focus on AI. Dr. Ghassemi is a founding partner at Ghamut Corporation, an AI strategy and innovation firm that has led over $250 million in AI initiatives across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. He was formerly a director of data science at S&P Global, and a strategic consultant with BCG. He has over fifteen years of technical and strategic consulting experience working with many of the world’s largest organizations including Pfizer, Allstate, Autodesk, Biogen, Estee Lauder, the NIH, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Ghassemi also serves as a Professor of Computer Science at Michigan State University where he leads the Human Augmentation and Artificial Intelligence Lab. His lab develops tools and systems that combine human and machine intelligence (A.I.) to solve problems that neither humans nor machines can solve as effectively alone. Dr. Ghassemi’s accomplishments have earned him numerous national and international distinctions, including being named a National Scholar for Data and Technology Advancement by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an AI Champion by AIMed, and a three-time recipient of JPMorgan Chase's AI Research Excellence Award. He was invited to testify before the United States Congress for his expertise in AI for health and has delivered a TEDx talk on the societal implications of AI. He is the lead inventor on multiple U.S. patents and has authored over 80 peer-reviewed scientific papers, which have collectively been cited more than 14,000 times in leading scientific venues including Nature, Science Transnational Medicine, AAAI and EMNLP. His work has also been featured by prominent media outlets, including the BBC, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. He also maintains a YouTube channel with over 25,000 subscribers and 1M views where he teaches concepts in Artificial Intelligence and web design.

Previous Education

New Mexico State University Electrical and Computer Engineering 2008

Previous Education

Boston University Neuroscience 2021

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrinaghosh

For the past two years I worked with the Clinical Genetics Branch of the National Institute of Health. in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics. My responsibilities included assisting in the management of data collected from the eight ongoing clinical trials, in order to research new clues to the etiology and prevention of hereditary cancers. I also attended classes and followed seminars offered by the NIH. These experiences  influenced my decision to pursue a career in epidemiology. I plan to focus my Master thesis on the molecular and genetic epidemiology of cancer. My hope is to continue research towards a PhD degree at the University of Cambridge, and continue my career within an academic environment.

I am from the Midwest, and have strong family and community ties to rural agriculture and wildlife conservation. The intellectual and personal connections I’ve made within and between my disciplines of industrial engineering, global health studies, and business administration at the University of Iowa have intensified my passion to help people and the environment thrive. My research on alternative cooking technologies in rural India and Cameroon, as well as a spectrum of experiences working as an engineer in the public and private sectors, has made me both more aware of the complexity of my chosen field of sustainable development AND eager to strengthen my own understanding of the scientific, behavioral, and economic forces which shape it. I completed the MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development to learn how I can integrate the principles and practices of sustainable development into my work as an engineer. I am thankful to be a Gates Cambridge Scholar alum, and grateful to keep learning from shared lessons and experiences with fellow scholars around the world.

Previous Education

The University of Iowa

My doctoral research focused on climate adaptation and decision-support frameworks for buildings and cities—insights that continue to shape my work today. I am passionate about building more inclusive, data-driven, and climate-resilient cities—and creating platforms where policy, people, and design intersect to shape better futures. Following my time in Cambridge, my professional journey spans academia, public service, and high-level consultancy—shaping national and regional strategies, advising governments and multilateral institutions, and leading complex programs across Africa. I have had the opportunity to advise governments, development partners, and multilateral agencies on sustainable urban transformation, ESG integration, infrastructure strategy as well as sustainable housing and settlements. I thrive at the intersection of strategy, systems thinking, and execution—translating complex challenges into solutions that work on the ground.

Links

linkedin.com/in/dr-nkatha