Find a Data Champion

Hi I'm Michael, I was appointed the new Research Laboratory Technician within the CCMM group at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. I have a BSc in Chemistry and an MSc in Nanomaterials and Materials Science but what I am passionate about is computers whether that be software or hardware. I am always looking to advance my skills and help others do so which is why I joined the Data Champions.

Qi received her PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she developed computational methods to study alternative splicing and the evolution of HIV. Later she joined the UCLA Division of Dermatology to help identify the resistance mechanisms of targeted cancer therapies using computational tools. 
    
In 2011 she was awarded the Humboldt Research Fellowship to work in the Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, and later the Division of Applied Bioinformatics, at the German Cancer Research Centre. There she worked on diverse bioinformatics projects with NGS data, such as studying genome-wide epigenetic regulation of cell differentiation, developing sequencing protocols and detecting somatic mutations from whole-genome sequencing data, as well as data integration and predictive modelling. 
    
Currently, she provides bioinformatics training and support to PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in the lab of Professor Beverley Glover.

I studied biomedical engineering for my bachelor's degree at Southeast University in Nanjing, China. During my senior year, I interned at BGI-Shenzhen, where I began to extend my knowledge of bioinformatics by working on the genomics of plants, such as the ginkgo tree, and animals. During my Master's at the same university, I had the opportunity to start exploring the formation of algae blooms by characterizing the compositions of the bloom-forming microbial communities in Lake Taihu. Using metagenomics, we found that complementation in bioprocesses, such as nitrogen fixation, between cyanobacteria and their physically attached microbes contributes to the formation of aggregates. In 2017, I moved to Germany for my PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research. There, I applied and developed computational tools to help us understand host-microbe interactions. Specifically, I focused on unravelling the complex relationships between plants and the microbes living inside and in the immediate vicinity of their roots.
 

Soniya Gupta-Rawal is a PhD student in Quantitative Marketing, advised by Professor Jaideep Prabhu at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. She is a Commonwealth Masters Scholar 2021 and Mitsubishi Scholar 2016. Her interest lies in the empirical analysis of marketing problems at the intersection of business innovation, social impact, and marketing strategy. Soniya's current research focuses on developing the matching algorithm for mentors and nano-entrepreneurs in India by employing machine learning and econometric modelling.

Soniya’s 7+yrs of experience as a researcher in emerging markets fuels her inspiration to contribute to the sustainable business ecosystem as she has held positions as a Researcher at the Department of Strategic Marketing, MICA, India; Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Policy Research; and Research Consultant at Ernst & Young, Global Delivery Service, India. She has interned at Grant Thornton, EY India, Urban Company and Parliament of India. She is constantly learning and developing a comprehensive understanding of the working of markets and individuals at the intersection of the market, social and academic spheres.