Two Stanford students named 2026 Churchill scholars

Tim Jing ’26 and Jennifer Hamad ’25 have received 2026 Churchill Scholarships to pursue graduate study at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship program supports one year of graduate study in the United Kingdom and is among the most competitive international scholarships for American students in science, engineering and public policy.

Jing will pursue a master’s in public policy, while Hamad will pursue a master’s in biological sciences. Both expressed excitement to enroll at Cambridge.

“I hope my time at Cambridge will enable me to better understand how policy can be integrated into the research process from the beginning, instead of being something that we think sometimes about after the fact,” Jing said.

Each year, the Churchill Scholarship program funds up to 18 scholars nationwide, including 16 traditional Churchill Scholarships in science, mathematics and engineering. Two individuals receive the Kanders Churchill Scholarships in science policy. The awards were established at the request of Sir Winston Churchill to strengthen ties between the U.S. and U.K. and advance scientific and technological collaboration.

Jing, who is majoring in biomedical computation on Stanford’s informatics track with a notation in science communication, received a Kanders Churchill Scholarship. At Cambridge, he will focus on how policymakers can incentivize pharmaceutical resource reallocation to improve health equity.

“I’m interested in the intersection of emerging technologies and healthcare,” Jing said. “I view policy and science communication as essential to bridging the divide between research and translation, especially when tackling big problems like healthcare accessibility.”

Jing said he plans to pursue a medical degree and become a physician advocate working at the intersection of global health and emerging technologies.

Hamad graduated from Stanford last year with distinction and honors in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. Her work at Cambridge will focus on developing ligand-drug conjugates to combat immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment, with applications in cancer immunotherapy.

While at Stanford, Hamad conducted research at the interface of chemistry and biology, with clinical applications across cancer, infectious disease and blood disorders.

Hamad said she is driven by helping others. “When I am in the lab, it isn’t just the excitement of making or discovering something new… It’s the urgency I feel for that someone, somewhere who is running out of time,” she said, “the person who we throw everything science has to offer at and still cannot save.”

“People are my purpose, and that kind of motivation doesn’t fade, even when the experiments fail a hundred times,” she added.

Hamad said the scholarship represents a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to pursue research that is reshaping immunology and to move closer to her goal of becoming a physician-scientist. She plans to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. and lead a translational research laboratory while also teaching at a research institution.

Stanford’s Office of Global Scholarships (OGS) oversees campus nominations for the Churchill Scholarship. OGS assistant dean and manager Diane Murk wrote to The Daily that “Jennifer Hamad and Tim Jing were standout applicants thanks to their academic and research achievements as well as their strong support from faculty.”

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