BME Grad to Study Immunoengineering as a Gates-Cambridge Scholar

After she crosses the stage on Class Day, Kavita Murthy is headed to the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, one of the most competitive international academic fellowships in the world. She will pursue a PhD in Medical Science with a focus on vaccine immunoengineering.

In the interview below, Murthy reflects on her time at Columbia Engineering. 

Why did you choose to concentrate in biomedical engineering?

When applying to Columbia, I knew I was interested in the intersection of engineering and medicine, hoping to develop technologies that could address current medical challenges. After I joined Columbia and learned more about the Biomedical Engineering department, its structure further pushed me to choose it as my major. I loved how BME encourages the exploration of many different engineering disciplines, allowing its students to learn a little bit of everything to then apply to their area.

What is one project, class, or experience that stands out?

One project that really stands out is my Senior Design project, O2-matic. My team and I developed an automated, low-cost system for respiratory ventilation. This project brought together nearly all the areas of engineering we had studied and allowed us to apply this knowledge to an existing healthcare problem. Seeing the final system work successfully and presenting our project at the Senior Design Expo was incredibly rewarding to showcase the many iterations and collaboration behind our design.

What is something you worked on that you’re especially proud of?

Something I have worked on that I am especially proud of is my research at Columbia toward developing a cure to HIV. While treatments for HIV exist in the form of antiretrovirals, their lifelong usage makes them unsustainable in many regions that see the highest number of cases, making a cure a more feasible and equitable solution for long-term disease control. My research aims to engineer bispecific antibodies to reactivate dormant HIV within immune cells and then destroy these cells. Getting to be a part of such research that extends beyond the lab to hopefully touch patients is incredibly meaningful to me.

How did Columbia Engineering shape your experience?

Being a part of the Columbia Engineering community has truly defined my last four years. The mission of ‘Engineering of Humanity’ is truly uniting, and despite us all pursuing different paths, it has been incredibly inspiring to be surrounded by people with such diverse interests and perspectives. I also deeply value the encouragement to pursue disciplines outside of engineering, allowing me to take classes purely out of curiosity.

What’s next?

After graduation, I will be heading to the University of Cambridge. I will be pursuing a PhD in Medical Science, researching a more comprehensive malaria vaccine that would protect against multiple stages and species of the malarial parasite.

What does winning this award mean to you?

I am truly honored to have been selected as a Gates Cambridge Scholar and to have the opportunity to join a community of incredibly talented individuals. With the current scholar community consisting of individuals from over 100 different countries, I am excited to grow academically and personally alongside a group with such a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives during my time at Cambridge and beyond.

How did you feel when you learned that you had won the award?

I first learned about the Gates Cambridge Scholarship through Columbia URF as an opportunity to pursue a fully funded PhD at the University of Cambridge. Cambridge had always been a top choice for me to pursue my graduate studies due to the strength of the research in vaccine immunoengineering, which is what I hope to study. The possibility to join the Gates Cambridge's global and interdisciplinary community made it a clear decision to apply!

What advice would you give to students who are just beginning their time at Columbia? 

I think this is way easier said than done, but don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and try new things! There are so many incredible new people to meet and memories to make.

What’s a fun fact about yourself that sums up your time here? 

I love looking at art, despite having little artistic talent myself. For the past few years, I have tried to go to gallery openings every Thursday in Chelsea.