Penn senior Jonibek Muhsinov has been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to pursue a PhD in psychiatry at the University of Cambridge in England.

From Key West, Florida, Mr. Muhsinov is majoring in biochemistry and biophysics in the College of Arts & Sciences. He is submatriculating to also receive his master’s degree in bioengineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Mr. Muhsinov is one of 26 Gates Cambridge Scholars chosen this year from the United States. This year, 76 recipients will be chosen as new scholars worldwide. The scholarship covers the full cost of studying at Cambridge for as long as four years, as well as additional discretionary funding.

At Cambridge, Mr. Muhsinov plans to study psychiatry with a focus on translational autism research. At Penn, he has worked in the Fuccillo Lab, investigating the anatomy of striatal interneurons and their role in value-based decision-making. He has been a math teaching assistant, chemistry learning assistant, and Weingarten Center tutor, and is a Vagelos Molecular Life Sciences Scholar.

Mr. Muhsinov also serves as a co-director of the student-run Bridge to Math at Penn, leading a summer program and year-round study halls and events to support freshman students’ transition to college. He is a residential advisor in Harnwell College House and participates in the Penn student chapter of Special Needs Undergraduate Swim Lessons. He also continues to serve as chair of Keys Tutoring, a tutoring program he founded while in high school.

Mr. Muhsinov is Penn’s 36th Gates Cambridge Scholar since the program’s first class in 2001. Founded in 2000 with a donation to University of Cambridge by the Gates Foundation, the scholarship’s mission is to “build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others.” More information about the Gates Cambridge Scholarship is available from Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.