The MPhil in Medical Science is a 1-year programme covering the whole spectrum of medical science from basic biology to clinical therapies.
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2025 intake
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Riya Nilkant
Lab: Mallat Lab, CaRM/VPD-HLRI Research keywords: immunology, atherosclerosis, congenital heart disease
What were you doing before joining Cambridge? Prior to starting her MPhil at the University of Cambridge, Riya was an undergraduate student at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her neurobiology research aimed to understand the function of conserved synaptic scaffolding proteins in single-celled organisms. She also enjoys volunteering with neurodivergent children at UCSB’s autism center and with Doctors Without Walls to serve the homeless population of Santa Barbara. Riya worked in the Kosik Lab at the University of California Santa Barbara investigating the origin and evolution of the synapse. She also held research positions within Stanford Medical School’s Cardiovascular Engineering Lab where she worked with organ transplant populations and sought to uncover mechanisms behind 1) failing ventricles in transplants of congenital heart disease patients 2) engineer valve repairs, and 3) study outcomes of patients receiving experimental rejection therapies. What brought you to Cambridge? Riya is a recipient of the Churchill Scholarship, and is one of the 16 awardees from the United States selected to pursue an MPhil at Cambridge. What are your research interests? Riya will work in the lab of cardiologists Ziad Mallat and Tian Zhao, whose work focuses on basic research on the immune basis of cardiovascular inflammation, and leverages pre-clinical studies on treatment of atherosclerotic lesions. What do you hope to do after completing your PhD? After completion of her MPhil in the Mallat Lab, Riya hopes to attend medical school to become a physician scientist, leveraging novel solutions to reach vulnerable populations. |
