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MIT biological engineering alumna wins Gates Scholarship for Cambridge PhD
Mitali Chowdhury is currently working as a System Engineer at XGenomes Corp.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Sun, 26, Apr 2026
- 01:52 EDT
- 38
Mitali Chowdhury / Mitali Chowdhury via LinkedIn
Indian-American Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumna, Mitali Chowdhury, has been awarded a fully funded PhD in Cambridge after she bagged the 2026 Gates Cambridge Scholars for the second time, MIT announced on April 21.
Chowdhury, selected along with 26 other U.S. based scholars, was offered fully funded opportunities for postgraduate study in any field at Cambridge University in the U.K., as part of the award.
At the University of Cambridge, she will pursue an MPhil and PhD through the Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies. Her research will focus on CRISPR-based diagnostics to combat antimicrobial resistance and improve equitable access to healthcare globally.
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She graduated from MIT with a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Engineering, along with minors in Urban Planning and Environment & Sustainability.
She has long been passionate about reducing health inequities around the world. At MIT, she conducted research on affordable point-of-care diagnostics to help detect and treat diseases using accessible biotechnology. She also contributed to developing low-cost tests for detecting bacterial contamination in water, with fieldwork focused on South Asia.
Currently, she works as a System Engineer at a startup, XGenomes Corp, which develops sequencing-based diagnostic tools.
Highlighting the significance of the award, Professor Eilís Ferran, Provost of the Gates Cambridge Trust, said, “I’m delighted to announce our new US Scholars. Since its inception Gates Cambridge has selected scholars based on their outstanding academic achievement and their commitment to changing the world for the better."
Professor Ferran continued, "After studying at Cambridge they go out into the world, creating a ripple effect of change across disciplines and sectors."
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is a prestigious postgraduate programme that provides full funding for study and research in any subject at the University of Cambridge.
Established in 2000 through a US$210 million donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the programme welcomed its first scholars in 2001.
Since then, it has awarded 2,355 scholarships to outstanding individuals from 112 countries. These scholars represent nearly 800 universities worldwide, including more than 200 in the United States, and span around 90 academic departments, and have studied at all 31 Colleges of Cambridge.
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