Directory

My interest in the intersection of child nutrition and education grew out of my experience helping to start Vincent Academy, a charter school in West Oakland, CA. I have pursued the topic of child nutrition in my coursework as a Health and Societies major at the University of Pennsylvania. My thesis investigated the impact of recent changes to the nutritional composition of school meals in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs. As a Gates Cambridge scholar, I hope to continue to explore the potential for schools to function as a locus for health intervention, with a specific focus on mechanisms for preventing childhood obesity. As an undergraduate, I have been involved in starting and managing an afterschool program at the HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy and have worked as a college access mentor at West Philadelphia High School. Going forward, I hope to continue to work with children in a range of educational settings.

Interests: mountain biking, hiking, sailing, skiing (downhill and cross country), running, and baking.

Previous Education

University of Pennsylvania

Having received the Gates once already, I am deeply honored to be selected for the award again to continue on for my PhD. I have immensely enjoyed being a part of the Gates scholar community, and my time in Cambridge so far has been a uniquely enriching experience. I am beyond excited to continue studying the cosmos at the Institute of Astronomy, where I will resume my investigations of how supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies and galaxy clusters interact with their extremely hot, gaseous environments, under the direction of Prof. Andrew Fabian.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge
University of South Florida

As the trilingual daughter of a traditional West African healer, my identity embodies the complexity of diaspora, migration, and collective memory. My research interests are in African identity formation, the social, political, and historical processes which inform various African experiences across and through diaspora. Through a historical lens, I have investigated the practice of female circumcision and how to apply this analysis to aid contemporary efforts to address the practice. My past research explored British colonial narratives on female circumcision in Kenya and received the highest honour thesis award in the History Department at Spelman College. In 2012, I collaborated with the Vice President of the Gambia to organize the first national conference on women’s health to mutually create strategies to address women’s health disparities. I am committed to contributing to knowledge production that engages with communities and their material realities. At Cambridge I continue to excavate how historical forces inform contemporary moments in African Studies, by examining how colonial legacies of women’s advocacy around female circumcision endure in the present.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge
Spelman College

At Cambridge my research was in the broad area of computer vision. I worked on feature extraction for classification of objects in images. I believe that progress made in this area will enable us to build rather intelligent machines, enabling them to see and analyse data on a real time basis. Cambridge is an exciting place to be and I was able to meet fellow students from all over the world. The diversity of students here makes Cambridge a truly unique experience.

B.A. Paris IV, La Sorbonne
MPhil University of Cambridge
PhD University of Cambridge

Fight against disease is not only fought in the trenches of hospital wings, but also and especially in the lab, by trying to uncover its fundamental principles. Transcription of genetic information into RNA is at the heart of cellular function and is controlled by the activity of three RNA Polymerases (Pol) in human cells. While most research has so far focused on Pol II, not much is known about Pol III transcription. However, knowledge of the latter may be instrumental to combat disease, since Pol III has been shown to be commonly dysregulated in a number of pathologies, including cancer. For example, tRNA-methionine overexpression is sufficient to increase cell metabolism and proliferation. In my PhD, I aim to harness state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence methods and genomic tools that are yet to be brought together in transcriptional regulation to capture the biological complexity of Pol III activity. Through the study of cis- and trans- regulators of human RNA Polymerase III, it will be possible to identify novel potential therapeutic targets. I am honoured to have become part of the Gates community and eager to apply my skills for the betterment of human health.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Systems Biology 2022
University of Cambridge Natural Sciences, Engineering 2021

From my childhood, I remember the smell of books. The shelves full of novels at my grandmother’s house, the aroma of old pages in the reading room of my primary school during winter. I like to think of my life as a series of libraries. From the surreal verticality of Biblioteca Vasoncelos, with its whale skeleton hanging from the roof, to the Maori carvings of Auckland University Library. When I think of it that way, perhaps it is not surprising that, after pursuing a degree in biotechnology in Mexico City, I ended up studying immunogenomics. Picture, for instance, Alice through the looking glass. “Here it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place”, said the Red Queen. When I read this quote, I think of the immune system. How fast must it run to keep our place in a world ruled by microbes? But the immune system does not run, it plans ahead and divides tasks. It is a community of cells that talk to each other. During my PhD in at The Sanger Institute, Cambridge I will study the immune system, using transcriptomics to link gene expression and cellular functions to genetic variation across individuals. Because I firmly believe in the transforming power of knowledge, when out of the lab I like teaching, and promoting art and science. Languages and music are my biggest passions. Monet, my favourite painter. And my dearest dream, to someday have a positive impact in Latin American society. As a Nahuatl poet once put it, “all that is true has a root”. And, to me, the desire to improve our world will always be the root from which everything else stems.

Previous Education

University of Auckland
University of Cambridge

As a medical graduate and an aspiring physician-scientist, I wish to contribute to improving women's health by integrating my medical background with fundamental research. During my medical education, I was struck by the remarkable need for more efficient screening and definitive treatment approaches to obstetrical complications. Therefore, I am interested in extra-embryonic lineage differentiation and obstetric complications stemming from defective placentation. During my MPhil project in Boroviak Lab, I worked on a microfluidic-based human stem cell model to elucidate the mechanisms of amnion and embryonic disc formation. By continuing with a PhD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, I will further focus on early placental development. I am passionate about addressing the gender-based knowledge gap in fundamental research, creating translational experimental models with clinical applicability to enhance women's healthcare, and advocating for equal access to healthcare services. I feel truly honoured to be joining the Gates Cambridge community of inspiring and dynamic scholars.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Biological Sciences, R&E Path 2024
Yeditepe University Medicine 2023

Erica Cao joined the Gates Cambridge community and began her PhD in Music in 2017. Her research interests are in the arts, health, and civil society. At the Cambridge Center for Music and Science, her PhD project is on the impact of music-making on civic engagement and social connectedness. She conducts field research through Humans in Harmony, a nonprofit organization which links students and community members to write collaborative and personalized songs. Before starting her PhD, she studied Psychology and Music Performance at Princeton University (BA), Music Studies at Cambridge (MPhil), and medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

I'm currently a postdoc in biology at Stanford. I was in Cambridge during 2005-06 doing an MPhil in computational biology, and then did my PhD in biological engineering at MIT. My research combines chemistry and molecular biology to understand how cells respond to cues from the environment. I focus particularly on cancer, identifying the pathways that are disregulated by common cancer-causing mutations.

I'm interested in heritage and museums, especially the way people design and use public spaces to create and engage in their community. My background is in archaeology, focusing on the Mediterranean world and material culture studies. For the past couple summers, I've been working on an excavation in the north of England at a Roman military fort called Binchester. My work there has looked at the cultural heritage landscape of the region, and how Binchester fits into this. When I can, I like to volunteer with outreach programs in museum and archaeology education. I'm passionate about using ethnographic research to design and implement human-centered museum spaces that build community and foster lifelong learning.

Praised as “fiery, wild, and dangerous” (Classical Voice North Carolina) with “a talent for character portrayal” (Chicago Classical Review), soprano Margaret Carpenter Haigh captivates audiences with her “flawless intonation” and “perfect vocalism” (CVNC). Commanding “expressive power, exquisite diction, and a clear, flexible voice” (Cleveland Classical), Margaret is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America. Her dazzling technique and formidable skill as a collaborative artist shine in performances of repertoire spanning from the Renaissance and Baroque to the modern day.

Treasured performances include the American premiere of Huang Ruo’s 12-voice tour de force of vocal-theatre and puppetry Book of Mountains & Seas in a collaboration between Beth Morrison Projects, PROTOTYPE Festival, and Trinity Wall Street; David Del Tredici's whimsical and virtuosic An Alice Symphony in a newly-choreographed performance with Portland Symphony and Ballet; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the choirs of Trinity Wall Street and Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue; Couperin's Leçons de Ténèbres in the Easter at King's Concert Series in King's College Chapel; performances of Thuthuku Sindisi and Gregory Maqoma’s dramaticized work of vocal-theatre Broken Chord at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and a ground-breaking soprano interpretation of the Evangelista role in Bach’s St. John Passion at the 2024 Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the work's creation. Recent solo recording credits include Handel's Israel in Egypt with Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire and Desmarest's Circé with Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs and the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra.

As a choral conductor, Margaret was Artistic Director of Nova Voce, Charlotte's premier women's choral ensemble, and Assistant Director of Amor Artis, an elite chamber choir based in New York City. She has held faculty positions at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, on Bach Akademie Charlotte Vocal Fellows Program, and at Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute in Quartz Mountain. She previously served as Director of Youth Education Projects for Apollo's Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra and has also held positions as assistant chorus-master to the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus and acting director of the Keele Bach Choir, Keele Philharmonic Choir, and Keele Philharmonic Orchestra in Staffordshire (UK); and she was selected as a conducting fellow at the Yale Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Norfolk, CT.

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Margaret holds the D.M.A. in Historical Performance from Case Western Reserve University; the M.Mus in Choral Studies from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar; and degrees in voice and organ from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Recent scholarship includes work on physical gesture in the madrigal repertory of the concerto delle donne in late sixteenth-century Ferrara, and she is active as a voice teacher and choral conductor and lectures nationally on physical gesture for singers.

Margaret is a devoted mother, and when her daughter allows her two hands, she is also an avid knitter, yogi, runner, and hiker, and she enjoys experimental cooking and mixing craft cocktails with her husband Nicolas and beloved kitties, who enjoy participating when allowed. She lives in New York City and is a member of The Choir of Trinity Wall Street. She currently serves as Director of Artistic Planning for Bach Akademie Charlotte and Music Office Manager at Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue.

Previous Education

Keele University
University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Links

http://margaretcarpenterhaigh.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/margarethaigh

I am an international lawyer from the US and incoming-PhD candidate in International Relations & Politics. My research focuses on digital surveillance and data protection in the FemTech industry. Motivated to pursue this research following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the US in June 2022, I sought to harness my experience as a litigator and researcher at the intersection of law and technology to build a project aimed at investigating the burgeoning global data economy surrounding FemTech, and how to protect the data ecosystem of FemTech products from misuse and abuse under the incentive structures created by legal regimes hostile to reproductive freedoms. Previously as a practicing attorney, I have worked at a global law firm, concentrating my practice on international arbitration and foreign sovereign litigation matters, and particularly on matters concerning issues of public international law. There, I maintained an active pro bono practice of matters concerning international human rights and international criminal law. This involved, for example, working with the Human Trafficking Legal Clinic to seek justice for migrant workers in diplomatic households in proceedings before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and with the Center for Reproductive Rights in proceedings challenging Texas' SB-8 abortion ban. I also assisted in the drafting of comments on the ICC’s policy guide for gender-based crimes with the PILPG, and supervised student research on the applicability of international law in cyberspace with Temple University Law School’s Institute for Innovation, Law & Technology. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to pivot these interests into my full-time focus as a PhD candidate at Cambridge.

Previous Education

University of Pennsylvania Law 2021
University of Cambridge International Relations 2018
Lafayette College International Affairs & French 2017