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My principal academic interests concern the relations between metaphysics, philosophy of language and ethics in western and Indian philosophy. My PhD thesis focuses on the Nietzschean and Buddhist notions of 'great-health'. I begin with the genesis of Nietzsche's ideas in and through his encounter with Indian Buddhism and then turn to some of the fundamental psychological and moral issues which he brings up. What, I ask, may remain of ethics after the myth of transcendence is debunked?

Having always been fascinated by the history of science and how scientific descriptions can be quite counter-intuitive, I decided to major in Physics. However, I soon realised that the issues I was interested in were being asked instead in the Humanities and Social Sciences instead. As a result, I shifted focus to the History and Philosophy of Science (HPS). As a Master's student at Cambridge HPS, I studied various colonial-era surveyors in Scotland and British India. Drawing on the history of colonialism, the sociology of science, and cartography, I studied the range of of methods deployed to secure credibility by agents far away from metropolitan centres. I currently work as Research Associate in Singapore, where I use the tools and approaches learnt at Cambridge to study the growth of genomics and state surveillance in South and South East Asia.

Growing up in Israel, my academic aspiration has always been driven by a search for a path that could lead to a feasible and concrete change within the Israeli society. I was drawn to the academia after years of experience in journalism, politics and NGOs. Before joining the Gates community, I have worked for ‘Haaretz’ newspaper, the Israeli Parliament and the aid organisation for refugees in Israel. Today I am a PhD candidate at the Sociology department at Cambridge and a research associate at ‘Molad – The Centre for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy’. Following my bachelor’s degree in The Hebrew University’s honours programme, I have graduated my master’s degree at Political Communications from Goldsmiths, University of London. My current project explores the ever-changing relationship between media and politics in contemporary democracies, and in particular, the encounter between mainstream media and political extremism in the age of social media and big data. Due to dramatic cultural shifts, both on the local and international levels, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind populism, extremism and social polarisation is essential. I find it imperative for academics to contribute to the debate, providing insightful ideas and practical tools for journalists, politicians and citizens. Coming from Israel, where the media, the civil society and democracy itself are increasingly under threat, I perceive this task as both intellectually and politically urgent.

Previous Education

Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Goldsmiths College (University of London)

Previous Education

University of Cambridge B.A. Hons 2002

After finishing with a Bsc in Mathematics from Imperial College London, I came to Cambridge to pursue further studies on Mathematics and especially Statistics. Thus, I first completed the MAST in Pure Mathematics where though I solely selected Statistics modules and I am now continuing with a PhD in Biostatistics. The project I will focus on deals with the assessment of the impact of learning curves, multiple operators and non-proportion hazards in clinical trials of surgical procedures and devices. Possible career paths I am considering after the PhD are doing research for my country’s ministry of health or for the first medical school that is about to open in Cyprus.

My research is highly multidisciplinary and uses ideas from mathematics and control engineering to obtain a sharper and more rigorous understanding of biological processes. In particular, I have applied stochastic, information, queueing, estimation and control theory to uncover new insights into molecular biology, epidemiology and invertebrate neuroscience. My current work looks at developing new models for epidemic transmission and control, which favourable trade complexity with reliability.

My studies will focus on promoting economic growth and improving health care systems in developing countries. I view the need to provide opportunity by removing the crippling effects of poverty and health as an urgent obligation of society. After my studies at Cambridge, I will return to the University of Miami to complete my degree in medicine. I hope that this academic combination will allow me to fulfill my aspirations as a future leader in international health and development policy.

Up until joining university, my interests were primarily in Applied Mathematics. However, during my Bachelor’s in Engineering Mathematics at the University of Bristol, I encountered various physics subjects, from fluid dynamics to electromagnetism, revealing the deep connection between mathematics, physics, and computation. I soon realised my desire to contribute to physics, inspired by its reliance on computational methods to solve complex problems. This passion led me to pursue an MPhil in Scientific Computing at the University of Cambridge, where I study topics like magnetohydrodynamics and numerical methods, deepening my appreciation for the interplay between physics and computation. A PhD in Physics is the natural next step, allowing me to bridge my computational skills with theoretical physics and contribute to advancements in areas like nuclear fusion. During this PhD, I plan to explore the interactions between the plasma and the wall of the tokamak reactor. The goal is to generate state of the art numerical simulations, to explore the causes and consequences of these interactions. I’m excited to join the Gates Cambridge community, where we can share and learn from each other’s different interests and perspectives.

Previous Education

University of Bristol Engineering Mathematics
University of Cambridge Scientific Computing

I grew up in Rockville, MD USA, and attended Johns Hopkins University where I double majored (Bachelor of Science) in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics and Statistics. I then completed my Master of Science in Engineering in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University with a concentration in biomedical data science. During my time at JHU, I realized that the information age we live in allows for data-driven innovation. After graduating from JHU, I began working as an associate computational biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. During my time at the Broad, I gained a lot of experience working with omics data to derive biological insight.During my PhD in Biostatistics, I will formalize high-dimensional causal discovery and inference, leveraging machine learning techniques such as Differentiable Causal Discovery and graph neural networks. I will apply these methods to biological datasets for an improved understanding of gene regulatory networks and personalized medicine, addressing the gaps in current statistical methods used in research. This research is important as it will refocus data analysis on what researchers are primarily interested in, causal relationships.

Previous Education

Johns Hopkins University Applied Maths and Statistics 2022
Johns Hopkins University Biomedical Engineering 2022

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-jiwon-park

I am an engineer fascinated by stem cell biology, aiming to address the challenges in healthcare through innovation and entrepreneurship. Studying Chemical and Biological Engineering at MIT, with a minor in Biology and Music, I found my passion for translational research while working in interdisciplinary labs. At Langer Lab, I helped develop an ultrasound-mediated colonic drug delivery device that became the platform technology for Suono Bio, a Boston-based biotech start-up. With keen interests in education and entrepreneurship, I cofounded Kepler Tech Lab in Rwanda, with the mission to develop and test an affordable, hands-on, and locally-relevant engineering teaching laboratory model with an associated teacher training programme. Since graduation, I have been working as a healthcare consultant to help generate and deliver strategic recommendations for top 20 global biopharmaceutical companies. My excitement for biology and engineering brings me back to research, and at Cambridge I plan to develop a biomimetic, 3D printable scaffold for development of lung stem cell-derived artificial trachea and organoids. The successful development of artificial trachea using the synthetic scaffold and patient stem cells may transform the treatment of tracheal injuries and diseases, significantly improving the survival and post treatment quality of life for millions of patients.

Previous Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

During my undergraduate studies in biomedical sciences at University College London, I was first introduced to the brain’s immune cell, microglia, where I learnt about the multifaceted nature of these cells in the physiological and pathological condition. Fascinated by the interactions that occur between the brain and the immune system, I went onto researching into the role of peripheral B lymphocytes in Parkinson’s disease for my master’s project at Cambridge university. Since graduating, I have worked as a business development manager at a neuroscience-focused biotech company, working with leading CNS pharmaceutical and biotech companies. This has allowed me to appreciate the enormous gaps that exist in our knowledge in neurodegenerative diseases and has, in turn, brought me back into research. Coming back to the academia and specifically Cambridge university as a PhD student, I plan to research into the relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation to understand disease mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease. It is a great honour to be able to join the Gates Cambridge community, which I believe will enormously enhance both my PhD and Cambridge experience.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Translational Biomed Research 2019
University College London Biomedical Science 2018

From a young age, my mother taught me the importance of exercising the right to vote. Years later, as a volunteer on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, I saw the challenges of voting firsthand: confusing registration forms, long lines, and malfunctioning voting machines, among others. I studied election reform efforts as a Political Science major at Stanford University and continued to focus on issues of civic engagement and political participation through positions at The White House Office of Public Engagement and on the 2012 Obama campaign. I completed an MPhil in Public Policy at Cambridge as a 2014 Gates Scholar, which deepened my understanding of policymaking and allowed me to explore the intersection of government, technology and public policy. I am currently drawing on these skills in my new role at the American Civil Liberties Union, and I will be continuing my education later this year as I enroll at Yale Law School.

I have always been fascinated by the dynamics of infectious diseases, particularly the epidemiology of emerging viruses, and I have pursued this interest both in my undergraduate work in the Republic of South Africa, as well as at Cambridge during my masters. Concurrently, I am passionate about the role of the public health sector in maintaining a just and equal society, and hope that my work will translate into more effective policy making in addressing the burden of infectious disease in sub-Saharan Africa. For my PhD in the Department of Veterinary Medicine, I will seek to identify and quantify the ecological factors that shape the risk of influenza virus emergence, from cross-species transmission of animal influenza viruses to immune-naive human populations. My project will aim to identify the factors that translate the human-animal interface, particularly agricultural animal populations, into emergence risk, identifying spatiotemporal trends to inform the distribution of surveillance and medical intervention for pandemic preparedness. I’m elated at the prospect of engaging in some robust cross-disciplinary discussion with my fellows, especially around global health, formal and informal politics and whether Han shot first. Interests: Science (all of it), politics, speculative fiction, running, hiking, good coffee, bad movies Previous University: University of Cambridge

Previous Education

University of the Western Cape
University of Cape Town
University of Cambridge

International law was historically conceived as the rules legally binding on states in their relations with each other. But in modern times a more multi-faceted view of legal relations in international law is emerging. It is the aim of my thesis to examine the position of the individual in the international legal system. The first part of the thesis sets out the classical framework of the international legal system. The second part of the thesis contains an examination of four significant areas of international law: mixed claims, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and human rights law, explaining how and to what extent individuals have rights and obligations.The final part of the thesis asks whether the situation reflected in these four fields can any longer be accommodated within the four corners of the classical framework, and what alternative framework might be posited which takes due account of the reality of individuals in the international legal system.

My research projects interrogate how development and state interventions targeted at women in the global south reflect and shape their lived realities, with a focus on gender and international development, the politics of knowledge production, and feminist entanglements with the state on issues of human rights and women’s precarious labour.

Previous Education

University of Melbourne
Ateneo de Manila University

I am originally from Louisiana (USA), and grew up in the biodiverse and culturally rich greater New Orleans area. My PhD studies (Insect Ecology Group, Zoology Department) studied the effects of management of oil palm plantations on invertebrates and their ecosystem functions. This allowed me to spend 15 months of my PhD on fieldwork in Sumatra, Indonesia.

In October 2021, I started as the Marshall Sherfield Fellow in the Insect Ecology Group (Zoology Department, Cambridge). In this role, I am managing a new collaborative project that is assessing socioecological differences between Liberian land use systems, and identifying aspects of land management that can improve overall crop sustainability. I am also a junior research fellow at St. Edmund's College (Cambridge).

Previous Education

Loyola University, New Orleans

Links

https://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/directory/michael-pashkevich-jr
https://www.marshallscholarship.org/marshall-sherfield/marshall-sherfield-fellows/mr-michael-pashkevich-jr