Directory

I am pursuing an MPhil in African Studies. My areas of interest include: black transnationalism, political protest, and youth identity.

My research in the field of Supramolecular Chemistry - the study of how molecules interact, recognise one another, and organise themselves into well-defined functional assemblies. Studying in Cambridge gave me a wonderful opportunity to live and work with talented and ambitious people form all over the world. I now lead a research group in the Chemistry Department at the Technical University of Denmark.

Previous Education

University of New South Wales B.Sc Chemistry (Honours) 2005

Having grown up in India and the UK, and living in different parts of the world to seek knowledge in subjects from the theoretical and practical sciences, with teachers in the Western and Islamic scholarly traditions, my current doctoral research project is concerned with exploring the constitution of 'ilm and an 'aalim, focusing particularly on bodies and language.

As an undergraduate at North Carolina State University, I began to appreciate the pragmatic perspective and mathematical methods of research in biomedical engineering, and I sought to apply this empirical approach to medicine. This lead me to pursue an MD-PhD dual-degree with the University of North Carolina in hopes of leading medical researchers in facilitating the translation of new treatments and technologies into the clinic. I am particularly interested in studying neurophysiology through computational modeling, specifically with regard to neuroplasticity in both a single neuron as well as across neuronal circuits. Gaining a basic mechanistic understanding of neuronal regulation has great implications for understanding and treating various neurological disorders and pathologies. The ideal solution to any illness, especially neurodegenerative diseases, involves input from all applicable fields, including basic science, clinical science, epidemiology, sociology, and psychology, among others. The Gates Cambridge community promotes collaboration across this wide range of disciplines, and I hope to apply my engineering background and clinical experiences to my graduate work and many future projects. With careful consideration of all these viewpoints, we can achieve our ultimate goal of providing the best possible patient care.

Previous Education

North Carolina State University
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

My doctoral research examined a method of advancing social justice that has gained traction in both philosophy and activism: advancing social justice by changing language. For instance by banning derogatory terms, changing word-meanings, or coming up with new terminology. In my dissertation, “Corruptible Words: Essays on Social Progress and Linguistic Change”, I caution against efforts to change language before changing social practices. My thesis draws from a “use-theory of meaning”, according to which the meanings of our words come not from how they are defined or what they refer to, but from how they are used by a linguistic community. “Sorry” although defined as an apology-expressing term, is used in ways that go beyond its definition. In English, it is also used to ask people to move aside when they are in the way, or to express remorse (“I’m sorry that happened to you”). Stable patterns of use take the form of unwritten rules which encode the culture and practice of a community into language. Such rules arise as a result of our local practices and beliefs (our “forms of life”). These practices and beliefs give rise to certain “expressive needs”, needs to use words to navigate them. Applying this view of meaning to the suggestion that we need to change language to advance social justice, the following question arises: What happens if you take problematic words away, by tabooing them, for instance, while the practices that gave rise to them remain unchanged? My doctoral research argued that generating strong linguistic norms, norms which dictate how words can or cannot be used, without changing social practices and beliefs, runs a strong risk of driving a community’s expressive needs elsewhere, risking the concealment of problematic practices and beliefs. In response, my doctoral research has developed a novel account of the role language can play in advancing social change. By identifying patterns of word-use and investigating the practices and beliefs which give rise to these uses, words become a rich resource of information. Words mark where and how, in our social practices and beliefs, reform is required. Language, my doctoral research argues, is not a shortcut to social change, but an important source of information.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Philosophy 2021
University of Amsterdam Philosophy 2020

I'm the Founder and General Partner of Air Street Capital, a venture capital firm investing in AI-first technology and life science companies.

Computer-aided drug discovery is - potentially - able to shorten the development phase of new drugs and at the same time it reduces the number of animals used for experiments. Being on the borderline between computer algorithms and chemistry it is both exciting and "sensible" work to do and I am looking forward to having an enjoyable and fruitful time in the field.

Links

https://www.andreasbender.de
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasbender

I am an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and School of Modern Languages & Cultures (China Studies Programme) at the University of Hong Kong. Through fieldwork and remote sensing, I research the politics of infrastructure development in frontier spaces, namely the Arctic and areas included within China's Belt and Road Initiative. I also run a blog, Cryopolitics, which provides Arctic news, analysis, and travelogues.

Technological growth optimizing human experience while reducing information access barriers will ultimately lead to a more productive and satisfied world. Not limited to this technological interest, as former Chair of the Gates Scholar Council I have also explored published tenets about cross-cultural organizational behavior and politics, in the hope that creative solutions might emerge which reduce the usual bureaucratic boundaries which preclude the emergence of these technologies.

I grew up in Brisbane, Australia, surrounded by incredible areas of biodiversity, and was always asking questions about the animals around me. While working at RSPCA Queensland, I learned that as well as being critical parts of complex ecosystems, animals are individuals with unique personalities that influence how they move through the world. In my Honours study at the University of Queensland, I investigated the movement ecology and thermal physiology of salt water crocodiles, analysing over 9 million data points in R. It was here that I became fascinated by the insight we can obtain from remote monitoring of wildlife, and the challenges and benefits of analysing large, long term data sets. During my PhD in Zoology, I studied how antarctic seabirds use ocean habitat, to better understand polar ecology, to mitigate bycatch, and ultimately conserve these species. In addition to my academic interests, I am passionate about the value of outreach and education in the sciences. I believe that if we can better explain the excitement of scientific research to the wider community, we have a better chance of successfully implementing the policy changes needed to save endangered species and mitigate the effects of climate change. I am currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, developing new network models to understand marine migratory connectivity.

Previous Education

University of Queensland

Having graduated from the medical school in Padua I just specialized in anaesthesia and intensive care residency at the University of Milan. I see research to be an integral part of my development as a clinician. For this reason I undertook a research placement at the Brain Physics Lab at Cambridge University, where I assumed duties as a local coordinator of the COGiTATE clinical trial. I got involved in several analytical projects on cerebral blood flow autoregulation (CA) monitoring and intracranial pressure waveform analysis for which I have been awarded with a scholarship by CENTER-TBI. A need for personalized medicine is increasingly acknowledged. In particular, individualized management of traumatic brain injury (TBI) based on continuous monitoring of CA has attracted a lot of attention in the neuro-critical care community. My PhD project will aim to improve measurement, understanding and visualisation of the dynamic profile of CA at the bedside, integrated with assessment of its determinants, ultimately facilitating better informed recommendations for individualised management of TBI potentially leading to improvement of outcome in this group of patients.

Previous Education

Universita Degli Studi di Milano Anestesia e rianimazione 2020
University of Padova Medicina e Chirurgia 2013

I work as a management consultant with a focus on healthcare, mostly in life sciences. My work uses a variety of data sources to understand customer needs and improve my client's efforts toward patient centricity in the products and services they offer. I'm a passionate believer that analytics and human-centered design should inform strategy.

I also am a leader in my firm's internal think-tank, focused on tackling big topics that impact people's healthcare. We leverage a variety of data sources and market research from around to world to study topics in public health, healthcare disruption, digital transformation, and medical development.

Previous Education

Auburn University BS Microbiology/ BA German 2012

“How can AI be used to combat climate change and save the natural world?” I first thought about this as an undergraduate computer science student, conducting research for both ETH Zurich and Cambridge. I studied AI’s role in the transition to clean energy and the adoption of distributed solar production technologies in residential housing.It is my mission to fully leverage the potential applications of AI in the fight against climate change. I will explore how the predictive capabilities, reliability, and multi-variable pattern recognition power of AI can be used to preserve and protect the natural world. My academic focus is informed by my initiatives in sustainable development, notably, employing my ongoing research into the provision of solar energy to schools in Indonesia. As a global ambassador for AI’s potential in environmental protection, I aim to aid economies in their transition into a greener future, actively participate in informing policy-making, and encourage greater cooperation between academia and industry leaders. The possible impacts and applications of my research, and its ability to inspire future generations to fight for a better world, make me incredibly excited to pursue my Ph.D.

Previous Education

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Computer Science 2023

After growing up in San Antonio, Texas, I undertook my undergraduate studies at Princeton University, where I am completing a degree in computer science. During my studies at Princeton, I discovered computational biology, and began working under Professor Mona Singh. My independent work revolves around constructing a computational pipeline capable of leveraging cancer genomic and transcriptional data to identify metabolites closely associated with breast cancer. These cancer-associated metabolites, or "driver metabolites," could prove key for understanding the metabolic alterations that form a hallmark of cancer development. At the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, I aim to continue my exploration of cancer metabolism and cancer evolution. In particular, I would like to explore structural and network-based models for understanding metabolic pathways important to cancer. These two areas should greatly refine my pipeline, improving its ability to uncover driver metabolites. It is my hope that augmenting our understanding of cancer metabolism and driver metabolites will open up new venues for cancer drug development and treatment.

Previous Education

Princeton University

I attended Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where I completed a Bachelor’s in Foreign Service with a focus in International Politics and an accelerated Master’s in Security Studies. Following graduation, I gained experience in both the non-profit and private sectors researching hate crimes, misinformation and disinformation, and emerging threats to international security. Throughout my academic and professional career, I developed a particular interest in the overlap between sociology, security studies, and media studies, examining the role film can play in shaping audiences’ perceptions of social issues. Through the MPhil in Sociology of Media and Culture at Cambridge University, I aim to investigate instances in which visual media are used to exacerbate social divisions and promote hate against targeted communities, with the long-term goal of identifying strategies to effectively challenge divisive and harmful narratives.

Previous Education

Georgetown University International Politics
Georgetown University Security Studies