Three University of Pennsylvania-affiliated people have won Gates Cambridge Scholarships to pursue graduate degrees at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

They are Cassi Henderson and Jocelyn Perry, 2013 Penn graduates, and Nicolette Taku, a student at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.  

Henderson, who graduated from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Her research will focus on investigating the fabrication of medical diagnostic kits through additive manufacturing. Defining a platform for linking chemistry needs with ease of manufacture could ultimately enable affordable, rapid and point-of-care detection of diseases.

Perry, a graduate of the School of Arts & Sciences. will pursue an M.Phil. in international relations and politics, focusing on post-conflict reconstruction and governance arrangements in Africa’s Great Lakes region. She has worked as a disaster responder with the American Red Cross and as a fellow with the New Sector Alliance’s Residency in Social Enterprise program in Chicago. She hopes to continue working on the development of inclusive government systems and advocating for displaced and marginalized populations  

Taku, plans to pursue an M.Phil. in oncology. Her first hands-on exposure to international health care came as an undergraduate when she researched Lassa fever in Sierra Leone. After working with a non-governmental organization in Colombia, Taku recognized the increasing burden of cancer in regions affected by infectious diseases. She plans to work on the development of cancer prevention and treatment infrastructures in low- and middle-income countries.

Henderson, Perry and Taku are among 40 U.S. recipients of Gates Cambridge Scholarships this year and bring to 27 the number of Gates Cambridge Scholars from Penn since the inception of the program in 2001.

More information about fellowship and scholarship opportunities is available through Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships.