Kennedy Scholars 2023

Dr Gaurav Agarwal

Gaurav is a practicing doctor in the NHS. He attended Oxford Medical School, graduating with the Gibbs Prize in Medical Sciences. Gaurav is passionate about improving human health through understanding the genome. As a student, he pursued research at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Gurdon Institute, developing an interest in using genetics to unpick disease biology. He has also worked translationally in clinical trials and with industry to implement new genomic tests in the NHS. As an academic clinician, he currently splits his time between research studying cancer predisposition and caring for patients.

Gaurav is excited to undertake a Master of Science in Computational Biology and Quantitative Genetics at Harvard. He will learn how to interrogate large genomic datasets; Gaurav will apply these methods as a Research Fellow at the Broad Institute, to study why some patients develop blood cancers. Upon returning to the UK, Gaurav plans to train in haematology. He hopes to come back with the skills, perspectives and relationships required to translate genomics into better patient care. Outside of work, Gaurav is a keen pianist and enjoys racquet sports.

Jordan Andrew

Determined to transform his adversities as a young carer of a disabled sibling into his ‘superpower,’ Jordan has made it his mission to advocate for young people ‘invisible’ to society. At 11, he became the inaugural recipient of a school citizenship award, named in his honour, after developing a swimming programme to connect his mainstream school with his sibling’s special needs school – the intervention aimed to break the social barriers perpetuating the stigmatisation of disabled children.

At the University of Cambridge, Jordan’s dissertation, ‘The Invisible Dandelions,’ was the first UK-based study interpolating photo-taking with interviews to explore resilience in siblings of disabled children. After graduating with five academic prizes in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, Jordan has continued campaigning for improved educational and social care policy support towards young carers, presenting his work in neuro-disability forums at Great Ormond Street hospital and schools across London.

By working alongside a diverse set of changemakers in Harvard’s Human Development and Education programme, Jordan hopes to create empowering transatlantic interventions for young carers to defy their adversities and discover more ‘invisible’ children lost in the education system.

Heather Annan

Heather studied at the Open University while caring for her grandmother – graduating with a BA in Philosophy and Psychology. Concurrently, she was a volunteer adult literacy tutor working with individuals with additional support needs, including autism. She then completed an MSc in Philosophy of Mind and Psychology and is now studying for the PhD in Philosophy and Psychology – both at the University of Glasgow – funded by the C.K. Marr Educational Trust. She is spending the summer of 2023 at the University of Tokyo on a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science scholarship.

Heather’s research specialisations are philosophy of mind, perception and attention. In her thesis, Heather is developing a new theory of autism in which attentional differences are a core aspect of autism that explain the perceptual variation associated with the condition, among other aspects. She is keen to ensure that this work captures how autistic individuals report experiencing the world. She plans to investigate how her theory could provide improved support opportunities for autistic individuals and their families. She will attend MIT as a visiting research fellow in the philosophy department but will work closely with autism researchers in other fields.

Philippa (Pippa) Frizzelle

At Harvard, Pippa intends to deepen her understanding of the laws between states, now with some years of private practice experience behind her, and to explore for the first time the world of international criminal law. She is particularly interested in ad hoc international criminal tribunals and their potential role in ongoing conflicts around the world. Pippa also hopes to strengthen her practical research and advocacy skills through involvement with the international human rights clinic, led by expert clinicians at Harvard Law School.

Tegan (Tigs) Louis-Puttick

Tigs graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2021 with a Human, Social and Political Sciences degree, with a particular focus on refugee rights, NGOs and border coloniality. She is currently writing a paper with Dr S Srinivasan, Co-Director of Cambridge’s Centre of Governance and Human Rights, on in/visibility at borders. Whilst at Harvard, she hopes to expand her knowledge on the technicalities of international maritime and public law, while going deeper into the sociological aspects of refugee rights and humanitarian work which will contribute to her aims to finish writing a book by the end of her year in the US. 

Julia Pamilih

After graduating from the University of Oxford with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Julia has spent the past three years working on foreign policy in Westminster.

She helped to establish a parliamentary group on China, working closely with two Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee during a time in which UK policy towards China rapidly evolved. She particularly enjoyed working on economic security policy in areas such as foreign investment screening and semiconductors. She subsequently worked for a Cabinet minister, and then spent time at a think tank setting up a major research project on UK-China relations.

At Harvard, Julia hopes to engage more deeply with US policymaking on China and its wider national security strategy. She also hopes to explore her interest in the political economy of Indonesia and South East Asia. She is looking forward to exploring the US, particularly during the 2024 presidential election.