Cambridge Alumni

16/10/2026

For people going through , the journey begins long before a pregnancy test turns positive.

Cambridge researchers have identified a key genetic switch that helps human embryos develop in the days immediately after fertilisation.

Using a highly precise gene-editing technique, scientists showed that a gene called NANOG plays a crucial role in helping an embryo form the cells that eventually become the human body.

The findings offer new insights into fertility, IVF and early pregnancy loss, reminding us just how much of pregnancy's earliest development happens before many people even know they're expecting.

Scientists have, for the first time, used an extremely precise genome editing technique called base editing to study gene function in human embryos. They found that a gene called NANOG is essential for forming the future body from an embryo.

11/10/2026

Big congratulations to Cambridge researchers Professor Clemens Kaminski and Professor Duncan McFarlane, who have been elected Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering in recognition of their outstanding contributions to engineering and technology.

This year’s Fellows are making an impact across the engineering and technology sector with innovations in clean energy, AI, medicine and public health.

They have influenced academia and business, worked to widen participation in engineering for people from underrepresented backgrounds, and provided expert policy advice to government.

Read more about their work: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cambridge-researchers-named-fellows-of-the-royal-academy-of-engineering-0

Cambridge University Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge

Two Cambridge researchers have been named Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering in recognition of their exceptional contributions to their fields.

10/10/2026

Why are more young people struggling with their mental health?

In the UK, the number of young people with a mental health condition has risen from 1 in 8 in 2017 to 1 in 5 today.

Tim Dalgleish, at St Catharine's College Cambridge and the Department of Psychology, believes part of the challenge lies in carrying an ancient survival system through a modern world.

From social exclusion to anxiety and PTSD, many of today's experiences can trigger the same emotional alarm bells that once helped humans survive.

In Always on my mind, Dalgleish outlines three approaches that could help transform how we understand, prevent and treat mental health conditions in young people.

Find out what they are in CAM's latest issue: https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/magazine/issue-108/always-on-my-mind

09/10/2026

In case you missed it... 👀

From uncovering hidden worlds beneath our feet to rethinking what anxiety really means, these were some of your favourite stories from our summer e-news:

🧠 Girls and boys show differences in what they pay attention to at birth: https://bit.ly/4zo3NeH

📚 Reading for pleasure can bring huge benefits: better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia: https://bit.ly/3VCfNL1

⏳ Dr Itamar Shatz identifies 9 kinds of procrastinators, with tailored advice for how each type can overcome time-wasting: https://bit.ly/475G7Qa

🍄 56-hour filming marathon allows us to see mycorrhizal fungi in motion for the first time: https://bit.ly/4AS9x1X

💭 Doctors favour reframing anxiety as a human evolution ‘success story' https://bit.ly/47fbJ5V

Which story caught your attention most this summer? 👇

09/10/2026

What the University of Cambridge has achieved, and will achieve, is enhanced and shaped by philanthropy.

Collegiate Cambridge was built on philanthropy, and it’s still vitally important today. As university finances and research funding have become tighter, philanthropy has become ever more essential.

From research and sports to museums and teaching, donors' generosity helps to enable things that otherwise wouldn’t happen, to advance the mission of the University.

Gifts for professorships, studentships, research projects and collections right across Cambridge are enabling new professors, new students, new ideas, and new resources to flow into the institution.

Thanks to the passion, energy and vision of our donors, partners and supporters, we are empowered to dream bigger and see further.

08/10/2026

Menopause can affect sleep, mood, energy, body composition and more.

But for many, the biggest challenge is not knowing what's happening or where to turn for support.

Join us for Cambridge Conversations and bring your questions, thoughts and experiences to the discussion.

📅 Thursday 12 November
🕛 12pm GMT

Book your spot here: https://bit.ly/4hNGwM2

07/10/2026

How would you like to be remembered?

Beryl and Michael Saich shared a lifelong commitment to learning, public service and the environment. Through a generous legacy gift to Cambridge's Centre for Climate Repair, they are helping future researchers develop solutions to one of the world's greatest challenges: climate change.

Read their story here:

Published on: 20 July 2026 How ‘two amazing people’ addressed the ​urgent need​ for postgraduate funding for climate solutions research. Mum was worried about the future for their grandchildren and for the next generations across the world. Having lived 6 months longer than Dad, and having c...

02/10/2026

The castle doors are open once again.

This year's Celebrity Traitors contestants include Cambridge connections Amol Rajan (Downing College, Cambridge 2002) and Hannah Fry, Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics and Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge.

They join a growing list of familiar Cambridge faces to brave the Round Table, including Stephen Fry, Nick Mohammed and Clare Balding. Overseeing all the plotting, persuasion and banishments is Cambridge alumna Claudia Winkleman (Murray Edwards College Cambridge 1990).

Faithful or Traitor? Who are you backing this year? Let us know in the comments. 👇

01/10/2026

Dear Freshers,

Cambridge alumni have a confession: not every supervision felt brilliant, not everyone found their people right away, and almost everyone worried more than they needed to.

Looking back, what would your fresher self be surprised to learn?

Share your Cambridge confession below and help welcome the newest generation of Cantabs 👇 👇 👇

30/09/2026

As another Cambridge term begins next week, new students need to pick a side: Jack's Gelato or Aromi?