Directory

I grew up in legal guardianship with my maternal aunt’s family in a small town in the northwest corner of Tennessee. Eager to learn more about the world outside my tight-knit community, I sought an interdisciplinary education during my undergraduate degree that centered on international politics, language learning, economics, and human rights. I was awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad in Chile and upon returning delved into education policy and began collaborating with a local literacy nonprofit and the study abroad office at my university. Upon graduation, I travelled to Galicia, Spain, as a Fulbright scholar and have worked here teaching and gaining experience in the classroom since. As a first-generation student, I know firsthand the transformative power that education has in fostering personal and professional growth. At Cambridge, my research will explore how disaggregated data can highlight structural inequities, such as resource gaps and socio-spatial segregation, and inform policy interventions that promote justice and inclusion in education systems. I am deeply honored to become a part of the Gates Cambridge community and am eager to collaborate with other young minds committed to driving global change in their respective fields.

Previous Education

Middle Tennessee State University Global Studies 2020
Middle Tennessee State University Spanish 2020

Links

http://www.linkedin.com/in/brittney-johnson731

Following completion of the Part III Maths programme at Cambridge, I worked as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. In 2008, I enrolled at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, working towards a PhD in policy analysis. Upon completion of the PhD in 2013, I remained working as a mathematician at RAND to develop new methods for long-term decision-making under deep uncertainty. Applications are typically related to climate change adaptation, ranging from flood risk management and water economics to renewable energy policy and life cycle assessment. My work is highly interdisciplinary, incorporating economics, statistics, engineering, operations research, and decision analysis. Most notably, I have developed the model of flood risk and economic damage used by the state of Louisiana to evaluate the benefits of hundreds of protection projects for their 50-year, $50 billion Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast.

Currently, I am an assistant professor of industrial engineering and political science at Purdue University, where I was part of the university's Building Sustainable Communities cluster hire. I also retain an adjunct mathematician posting at RAND Corporation as part of my continuing flood risk management work in Louisiana.

Previous Education

North Carolina State University B.S. Mathematics 2003

My name is Donielle Johnson and I am from Alexandria, Virginia. I recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where I studied psychology and the biological basis of behavior. At Cambridge, I am pursuing a research MPhil in medical science. My research looks at synaesthesia in adults with high-functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome.

Previous Education

University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Archaeology 2018
University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Archaeology 2016
University of Cape Town Bachelor of Social Sciences (BSocSci) - Archaeology and Social Anthropology 2013

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiah-johnson-19680a238

Dr. Matthew Kuan Johnson works at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and theology on topics related to ethics, empathy, embodiment, and the emotions. He earned his Ph.D. in Moral Philosophy earlier this year from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar, and also holds an MPhil in Social Psychology from the University of Cambridge (with high distinction) and a B.A. in Cognitive Science from Yale University (magna cum laude). Previously, he was a Contributing Scholar at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University, and has taught in the University of Cambridge’s Philosophy and Psychology Departments.

Earlier this year, he wrote the target article for a special issue (on Joy) of the Journal of Positive Psychology:
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rpos20/15/1?nav=tocList

My PhD project involves imaging live cells at high resolution. I am attempting to see features the size of nanometres, approximately 10,000 times smaller than a human hair. To achieve this goal, I am working with a relatively new technique called Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy (SICM). SICM is specifically designed to image soft surfaces in salt buffer solutions. I am also working on extending this capability to apply localised forces to cells and monitor how they react. This project is especially exciting to me because it involves biology, chemistry, physics, and electrical engineering.

I am interested in the neurobiological processes that lead to retinal ganglion cell death and dysfunction in glaucoma and other optic neuropathies. In particular, I seek to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying axonal degeneration, dendrite retraction and afferent synapse loss, and cell body death in glaucoma. My goal is to utilize knowledge of these processes to develop targeted neuroprotective strategies to slow or halt RGC death and preserve vision for patients with glaucoma. I am also actively investigating the use of stem cell transplantation to achieve retinal ganglion cell placement, as a potential regenerative treatment for optic nerve disease, with a focus on anatomic incorporation of cell grafts, neurite growth and synapse formation, and electrophysiological retinal circuit integration.

Previous Education

Northwestern University BA Biological Sciences 2005

Links

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/results/directory/profile/10004407/thomas-johnson
http://johnsonlabjhu.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-v-johnson-70210311

My research will be motivated by some of the most fundamental questions in science: how did our universe form, why does it look like it does, and what is its ultimate fate? Specifically, I'll be looking at how fluctuations in the early universe grew and evolved, acting as primordial 'seeds' for the large scale structure we see in the universe today. In Cambridge, I'm looking forward to joining the Gates community, and to beginning what I hope will be a diverse and challenging career in research.

My familial experiences with health inequity animate my passion for public health law and policy. As an undergraduate studying political science, global health, health policy, and the Spanish language, I have explored this passion in an interdisciplinary way. My research at the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and T.H. Chan School of Public Health — coupled with my service as an Arthur Liman Public Interest Law Summer Fellow — have also allowed me to translate my studies into practice. Now, with an MPhil supported by the Gates Cambridge Trust, I aim to jumpstart a career in health law and policymaking by honing the important skills of developing and critically examining population health evidence. I wait in earnest to join a global network of Gates Cambridge Scholars at the University of Cambridge to understand better how to augment our collective wellbeing.

Previous Education

Harvard University Government, Data Science Track 2024

I have a unique background that allows me to tie together leadership, technical expertise, and grit to get any job done. I value innovation and accretive change. I place a strong emphasis on inspiring the consumer or end user; making lives a little bit better. I have experience delivering results across multiple industries (retail, power / utility, and start-ups) and organizations (front & back of house). I believe in change through technology and enabling people to spend their time innovating, inspiring, and building relationships. I am a demanding but fair leader that delivers results while encouraging individuals to be their best. Specialties: Leadership and management, empowering teams to succeed, P&L responsibilities, Operations and General Management, global experience / awareness, creating and translating complex data sets into action, automation and automated system adoption, and interpreting / managing technical programs. I enjoy organizations that are willing to take calculated risks and continuously strive to be better.

During my undergraduate studies in anthropology and sociology, I developed a strong interest in medical anthropology, expanding my understanding of social inequality and the impacts of health disparities in Australia and around the world. Since completing my honours degree, I have been working as a Research Officer at the Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab at Edith Cowan University, where I have contributed to research on social and cultural care, and diversity in ageing. I am thrilled to become a member of the Gates Cambridge community. During the MPhil in Health, Medicine, and Society at Cambridge, I will undertake a research project exploring the experiences of trans and gender diverse people who have accessed assisted reproductive technology, drawing on the fields of medical anthropology, the sociology of reproduction, and gender studies. Following this, I intend to pursue doctoral studies and continue a career in social research that allows me to advocate for improved access to health and social care for marginalised and medically underserved communities.

Previous Education

Australian National University Public Health 2023
University of Western Australia Anthropology and Sociology 2021

My research focuses on the evolution of non-state threats and state responses to the changing security environment. At Cambridge, I plan to study how networked non-state actors have clashed with states, tracking their competing identity structures, conceptions of leadership, and tactical innovation, among other dimensions of conflict. My interests are interdisciplinary, reflecting my exposure to different academic fields and diverse life experiences. As an undergraduate at Columbia University, I majored in philosophy and minored in computer science. After graduation, I spent a year working in international development, with field assignments in Vietnam and the Balkans, before earning a masters degree in information management at UC Berkeley. My masters research critiqued the logic of information sharing guiding US intelligence reform in response to networked non-state threats. I hope to continue my research as a PhD student after earning the MPhil.

Off to Montreal for a postdoc!

Emily Jordan PhD, is the Cofounder and COO of Ancora.ai, a health tech company with the mission to democratize access to innovative medicine. Dr. Jordan holds a neuroscience PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar, and an undergraduate degree with highest honors from Columbia University in New York. She is the founder of Halo Angel Group, an early stage, impact-focused investment group and is an active mentor, speaker and advisor in the health tech ecosystem. She has spent her career working at the intersection of science and tech in 3 countries, and has a passion for improving diversity in AI, healthcare and tech.

Previous Education

Columbia University BA in Psychology and Anthropology 2009

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-rose-jordan-phd

Ph.D. computational biologist turned software engineer. Interested in researcher workflows, large-scale data pipelines, and complex data visualization.

Previous Education

Yale University B.S., Biochemistry 2007

Links

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

A native of Detroit who attended Michigan State University to study Political Science, I am deeply committed to reforming a US criminal justice system that is expensive, frequently counterproductive, and terribly damaging to inmates, their families, entire communities, and the functioning of democracy. As an undergraduate I carried out research on racial hierarchies, the self-segregation of African American and Latinx students in university dorms, and the misrepresentation of minorities in US history high school textbooks. I also served as Michigan State’s President of the Council of Students with Disabilities and as Chief of Staff for a legal non-profit which, among other roles, represents refugees at risk of deportation. As an MPhil student in Criminological Research at Cambridge, I conduct research on the impact of incarceration on the political participation and community engagement of Black women and the symbiotic harms of their incarceration. I will expand my Mphil project to a larger mixed methods project for my PhD. This will prepare me for a career dedicated to making the US criminal justice system more rational, equitable, and humane.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Criminology 2022
Michigan State University Political Science 2021

I grew up in the island of Dominica, in a village called Vieille Case. In 2012, I graduated from the University of the West Indies with a BSc. in Chemistry and Mathematics. I then pursued an MPhil. in Chemistry at the UWI, under the supervision of Prof Sean McDowell. In 2018, I completed my PhD in Chemistry (Department of Chemistry, Cambridge) under the supervision of Prof David Wales FRS. For my PhD work, I developed and tested computational methods to study protein folding. In particular, I worked on a coarse-grained model for proteins, developed an approach for sampling large-scale rearrangements in proteins, and characterised a disordered receptor protein implicated in HIV infection. After my PhD, I joined the group of Dr Rosana Collepardo-Guevara (Department of Physics, Cambridge) as a research associate; focusing on developing models to probe genome organisation. I am currently a Junior Research Fellow at King's College Cambridge, where I am developing multiscale computational approaches to interrogate how cells organise their contents via phase separation.

Links

https://www.carischolar.com
https://twitter.com/jerelleaj
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerelle-a-joseph