2017-2018
Nadya Pohran, PhD
I participated in the i-Teams program back in 2018 and it was among some of my most formative interdisciplinary research experiences during my doctorate at the University of Cambridge --- and I think that's saying something!I'd strongly encourage students -- especially the humanities students in anthropology/sociology/etc. to look into this and apply.
Monitoring plastic pollution in island states
Inventors: Dr. Steve Roberts, Dr. Huw Griffiths & Dr. Claire Waluda, British Antarctic Survey Mentor: Brian Corbett Plastic waste is everywhere, even in remote lakes near Antarctica, and is a particularly difficult problem for island nations which rely heavily on tourism. In these cases the islands generate waste locally, waste is brought by tourists, and…
Saving lives in the developing world by reducing the carbon
Inventor: Dr. Steve Marshall, British Antarctic Survey Mentor: Dr. John Mullett Paraffin stoves have been used for cooking in Antarctica since the first expeditions over a century ago. Modern stoves are very similar to those originally used, though they have become lighter and more compact. Paraffin is one of the best available fuels since it…
Using single photons in visible light quantum systems, for cryptography,
Single-photon source inventor : Dr. Rachel Oliver, Materials Science & Metallurgy Single-photon detector inventor : Dr. Matthew Applegate, Physics Mentor: Dr. Julian White Single photon devices are being proposed for a wide variety of applications including quantum cryptography, quantum sensing and computation, satellite communications, and imaging across all length scales. Infrared single photon sources are…
Growth factors for stem cell culture, regenerative medicine and bioprocessing
Contact: Dr. Catherine Onley, Qkine; Dr. Marko H Hyvönen, Dept of Biochemistry & Qkine Mentor: Dr. Marcus Yeo, CEO, DefiniGEN Qkine is a recent spin-out from the Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge. The scientific founder, Dr Marko Hyvönen has over 25 years of experience in producing hard-to-make proteins for structural biology, in large quantities.…
Finding the best healthcare applications for a natural language voice
Inventor: Anthony Silver, Voice for Good Mentor: Dr. Simon Pulman-Jones Voice for Good offers web-based services for people without access to the internet, through their voice-powered platform called Vocodo, accessible via a basic phone call. The first two services are Vocodo Translate, which offers a translation service between the 15 currently-supported languages, and Vocodo Health…
Developing a low-cost finger-prick sensor for blood potassium levels
Contact: Dr Tanya Hutter, Chemistry Mentor: Tom Collings, Cambridge Consultants Maintenance of blood potassium levels within defined limits is crucial to health; healthy blood potassium levels are between 3.5 and 5.0 mmol/L. Both severe hyperkalaemia (high-potassium) and hypokalaemia (low-potassium) are associated with abnormal heart rhythms and sudden death. In patients with kidney dysfunction, potassium levels…
Novel extraction of specialist cells for use in cellular therapeutics
Contact: Dr. Krishnaa Mahbubani & Dr. Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, Department of Surgery Mentor: Dr. Karin Schmitt Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from living donors are the main source of lymphocytes for basic and translational research, including drug screening and the generation of cellular immunotherapies such as Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) and regulatory T cells.…
Investigating the best routes to market for MyICUVoice – an
Contacts: Dr. Tim Baker, Speciality Registrar & Dr. Vilas Navapurkar, Consultant in Intensive Care, Addenbrooke’s Hospital Mentor: Clara Aranda-Jan Admission onto an intensive care unit (ICU) is one of the most frightening lifetime experiences a patient or their relative can have. Research has shown that an inability to communicate is the most distressing and frustrating…