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Most of the people have no choice about being poor, this decision comes with the cradle. Due to my life experience I consider that it is my duty to work for them, so that they can have the same opportunities in life, independently of the birth conditions. I am an economist and an industrial engineer. With them I have been able to work in diverse projects (in the health area) that promote this equality. Yet, each time I found more differences between the assumptions in which economic theory is made and the developing world. In my MPhill I worked to understand better the statistical tools so that now, in the PhD, I can build theory, based on network models, to understand how the development of a region cannot be studied alone, but it should be embedded within its geographical context. In this way, with my study, I want to help in the construction of better public policies.

Previous Education

St Stephen's College, University of Delhi B.Sc. (Honours) Physics 2002

Links

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/arijeet-pal-220723a9

I am a first generation Chinese-American MD/PhD student interested in studying disease at the bench-side and bed-side. While I concentrated in Economics at Harvard, I also explored other disciplines, including Medicine and research. My previous research experiences include developing targeted immunotherapies at the National Institutes of Health and understanding hyperleptinemia in obesity at the University of Michigan during my PhD in the Myers Lab. Interestingly, in the wards, I have witnessed the clinical significance of both leukemia treated with immunotherapy and obesity-related complications. In the O’Rahilly Lab at the University of Cambridge, I will extend my research in obesity and learn how to translationally apply basic science findings at the bench-side to patient care at the bed-side. Additionally, through the Gates community, I hope to further develop my understanding of using multi-disciplinary approaches to address multifaceted diseases like obesity. I, therefore, aim to become a physician-scientist who asks and answers questions grounded in clinical Medicine that can be translationally applied to patients.

Previous Education

National Institutes of Health
University of Michigan

I am a serial entrepreneur, having founded a few companies both in the UK and in China, mainly in the education and investment sectors.

In the Gates community, I assumed Committee Member of the inaugural Gates Cambridge Biennial as well as Committee Member of the 25@25 Provost Advisory Group.

Links

http://www.arkim.co.uk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/xiaohan-pan-phd-cfa-673957b

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

Raised in a family that valued innovation and tangible impact, I learned early how science can transform lives. From my grandfather’s fields in Italy and my maternal grandparents’ self-sustaining hospital in rural India, I learnt that meaningful change depends on both scientific excellence and a commitment to supporting vulnerable communities: technology must be co-created with the people it aims to serve. Through research and my work with farmers in Kenya, I have become increasingly aware of the urgency of restoring degraded agricultural systems, increasing soil fertility while reducing dependence on fertilisers. I became fascinated by how plants and fungi cooperate to sustain growth, resilience, and soil health. At Cambridge, I will pursue a PhD on SMAX1-mediated control of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, aiming to identify symbiosis-specific regulators that can help crops form more effective partnerships with beneficial fungi. I am honoured to become part of the Gates community, where I hope to contribute to more regenerative, equitable agriculture, and to a future where science helps both people and ecosystems thrive.

Previous Education

Imperial College London (University of London) Systems and Synthetic Biology 2025
University College London Biomedical Sciences 2024

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

What should an AI system do when the world has changed? This question has shaped my research and my sense of purpose as a computer scientist, since I began my research at Korea University. I studied how AI models, especially language models, handle time-sensitive knowledge, why they become unreliable when facts or regulations change after the training cutoff, and how we can make them respond more responsibly. In my previous work, I developed benchmarks for temporal knowledge and explored how temporal knowledge is represented inside models through mechanistic interpretability, leading me to propose novel alignment method. What distinguishes my research is that I do not treat evaluation, interpretability, and training regimes as separate problems; I aim to connect them into a single framework for building trustworthy AI. In my PhD, I hope to devise time-aware AI agents that can recognize when their knowledge is outdated, retrieve fresh evidence, revise their beliefs, and remain well-calibrated under uncertainty. My long-term goal is to help build AI systems that are not only more capable, but more reliable, transparent, and genuinely useful in improving people’s lives.

Previous Education

Korea University AI Applications 2026
Korea University Linguistics, CSE 2024