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I completed my BSc and MSc in Biomedicine at the University of Southern Denmark, where I developed a great fascination for neuroscience. Therefore, I chose to conduct my BSc thesis in a neurobiology lab working on a treatment for stroke. During my MSc degree, I had the good fortune to study at both UCSD and in Portugal. Following this, I decided to spend a year gaining additional research experience. I came to Cambridge in July, 2015 to work as a research assistant in Prof. David Rubinszteins lab. Here, I had the opportunity to combine cell biology with neurobiology and learned that understanding cell mechanisms creates options for treating severe diseases. Currently, there are no effective treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. During my PhD, I will focus on the cellular degradation mechanism, autophagy. Induction of this pathway has the ability to clear the toxic aggregates that are the hallmarks of neurodegeneration in disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. I hope that this will bring us closer to treating these devastating diseases that leave individuals impaired and dependent. I am excited to undertake my PhD in such a dynamic and innovative environment and to join the diverse and compassionate Gates community.

Previous Education

University of Southern Denmark

I am fascinated by bridge structures since they form the linchpins of any rail or road infrastructure network. It always astonishes me to see that more than half of the bridge failures in the world are due to a single cause called 'scour'. My main goal at Cambridge was to tackle this cause. Under the supervision of Professor Campbell Middleton, I developed a new vibration-based approach for monitoring bridge scour. We validated the feasibility of this technique with an experimental programme involving advanced geotechnical physical modelling and a six-month field test at a bridge in Bradford UK. This Ph.D. project was nominated for Digital Initiative of the Year at the 2020 British Construction Industry Awards, Highways UK Intelligent Infrastructure Competition 2020, and The Engineer magazine Collaborate to innovate awards 2020.

After my PhD, I worked as Lecturer at University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka for 2 years. During my time in Sri Lanka, I had the chance to form a collaboration between researchers from Universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Moratuwa and engineers from Access Engineering PLC to introduce fibre optic infrastructure monitoring technology to Sri Lanka.

I currently work as a Senior Engineer at WSP in the UK, a world leading management and consultancy services firm that advises on the built and natural environment.

During my time in Cambridge, I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Gates-Cambridge community of passionate future global leaders who took up some of the most challenging research and other projects with the hope of benefiting the masses.

Previous Education

University of Moratuwa

I was born and raised in Uganda, East Africa. I have a bachelor’s degree in medicine (MBChB) from Makerere university and a master's degree in anaesthesia and critical care. This positions me at the forefront of acute care in hospital emergency departments, operating theatres and the intensive care unit (ICU). Traumatic brain injury is a growing global health problem with a disproportionately higher burden in LMICs like Uganda, majorly affecting young males, resulting in death or disability and leaving the survivors and their families adversely affected. Our setting with limited access to surgery, intensive care, rehabilitative services and a significant health workforce deficiency, efforts to prevent brain trauma must be made. My PhD work is focussed on the economic cost and systems impact of traumatic brain injury in the East African region. This will inform policy, resource allocation and hopefully strengthen efforts to prevent or reduce severity of traumatic brain injuries. Outside my PhD work, I look forward to enjoying the rich history, architecture and cultural diversity in Cambridge and establishing new friendships while there.

Previous Education

Makerere University Medicine
Makerere University Anaesthesia

During my PhD, I explored autistic-like traits in bilingual and monolingual children, as well as aspects of their cognitive and figurative language development. Following the PhD, I joined the University of Leeds as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. During the post doc, I worked on the Quantifying Bilingual Experience (Q-BEx) project, where I was exploring the documentation of bilingual experience in children with the aim to inform research, education, and speech and language therapy practices. Currently, I am a Lecturer in Language and Communication Sciences at the University of Essex.

Previous Education

Oxford University
University of Montenegro

I grew up in North Carolina and pursued a BA in history at Stanford University. Most of my historical work focused on the intersection of early modern science and colonial ventures, but some time away from college working in the labor movement and studying the housing crisis refocused my attention. At Cambridge, I will be studying the confluence of two major social trends: the recent rise of short-term gig work, and the decades-long increase in the number of unhoused people owing to rising housing costs, stagnating wages, and austerity measures. Alarmingly, and contrary to popular belief, an increasing number of unhoused people work and still can't afford rent. I plan on conducting field work that sheds light on unhoused labor in the UK, its representation in popular media, and its connection to changes in the welfare state. Ultimately, I'm interested in studying the long-term history of economic exploitation through the interaction of housing and labor markets. I believe there is no well-functioning democracy that does not ensure housing for all.

Previous Education

Stanford University History 2022

As an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker, my work has sought to spotlight social justice and human rights issues. For the last two years I have worked as as a multimedia reporter and the creative director of the Huffington Post’s long form magazine Highline. There, I covered major global and American issues from ISIS and the refugee crisis to police brutality, corporate corruption and sexual assault. At Brown University, I studied politics, film and journalism with a focus on East Africa culminating in my documentary, I Married My Family’s Killer, on intermarriage in post-genocide Rwanda. My degree in International Relations at Cambridge will examine early interventions and crisis identification, specifically investigating the case of Burundi. Through my research I will seek to understand incentives for preventative actions that could ultimately help to deter humanitarian crises. With this degree and my experience in multimedia journalism, I plan to help governing bodies make informed choices that protect civilians and promote long-term regional stability. I am thrilled to join the diverse and expert minds of the Gates community.

Previous Education

Brown University