Meet the MCR

Hi there, my name is David (Zheyi) Cao, and I am a DPhil student in Clinical Medicine studying computational cancer genomics. My primary research goal is to identify the cell-of-origin of Barrett’s Oesophagus/Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma through investigating the genome-wide mutations.

As the 23-24 MCR President, I am leading the MCR, which includes all the social secretaries, welfare officers and representatives who are responsible for various events, schemes and projects run at the MCR. I also lead the MCR general and committee meetings, report to College Principal every fortnight and represent our MCR sitting on College committees and Student Union. More importantly, I will always be ready to provide support for the students at Somerville so that everyone could enjoy their study and life at Oxford. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any enquiries about the MCR, or anything else.

Hi, I’m Sofia and I’m the Vice-President! I’m a second year MPhil in Politics from Italy. 

As Vice-President, I support the President in running the MCR and deal with general enquiries. 

I am Ishani Mookherjee, a first year D. Phil. in Law student. I am keenly interested in the fields of human rights law, equality law, and medical law. My doctoral thesis research aims to develop a regulatory framework for governing disability-selective abortions in India.

As the Women’s Representative and the Disabled Student’s Representative, I hope to make the MCR a more inclusive, empathetic, and accessible space. I aim to represent the diverse concerns and requirements of the women students and students with disabilities to the MCR and the College through the Equality and Diversity Group, and coordinate with them where necessary. If there is anything that the MCR can support you with, please feel free to reach out to me. 

Hi all! My name’s Juliette, and I’m a DPhil student in Economics working on environmental economics.

Within the Somerville MCR, I am the Music Rep. I organise the piano lessons and a couple of music events for graduate students – karaoke, open mics and concerts, anything goes (well, mostly in Hilary term now, given the full events that we’re having already in MT)! If you have ideas for something music-related, please feel free to reach out – Juliette.

My name is Ghaith, and I am an Msc student studying Radiobiology in the department of Oncology. As a treasurer for the MCR, I hope to help run the finances of the MCR, from handling reimbursements to managing our MCR budgets. I work closely with the rest of the team, aiming to achieve the highest level of happiness and fun in the MCR! 

My hobbies include a lot of sport, squash, rowing, cycling and gyming are my current favourites. I have also recently got hooked on pool, which i play with our lovely IT and House reps (as well as various professional pool players). 

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions, and many thanks! 

My name is Joost and I am a postgraduate student reading for an MSc in Economic and Social History. As the 23-24 SU representative I am taking care of the connections of the Somerville MCR with the student union and hope to lend voice to all issues arising in Somerville College. In my free time you either find me out on the hockey pitch or in the library reading.

Hi! I am Anshul Dalmia and I am the Minority & Ethnicity Representative. I am a lawyer by profession and am currently pursuing the Bachelor of Civil Law. Apart from law, I love to read fictional works, play badminton, cook Indian food, and watch sitcoms (big fan of Schitt’s Creek, Brooklyn 99, and FRIENDS)!

As the Minority & Ethnicity Representative, I believe it is my responsibility to not only lead structural change within the community but also provide a holistic environment for the welfare of the students. Through my efforts in this role, I seek to prevent the invisibilisation of minority and ethnic students in the higher education space.

Hi there! I’m Tim, the Somerville MCR’s IT representative. I am currently reading for a DPhil in Engineering science. In particular I research and model the Fluid dynamics of Wind Turbines. I am originally from Sheffield and I love the outdoors, climbing, running and, since coming to Oxford, rowing.

If you have any IT questions please do get in touch with me; whether that be wifi issues, lost laptops or access to electronic equipment in the MCR. If I can’t sort it for you, I’ll at least be able to point you in the right direction!

Hi, I’m Sana, and I am a DPhil Student in History whose hobbies include reading, music and poetry. 

I particularly enjoy reading acknowledgement pages of books in particular and am interested in philosophy of history. I am an occasional writer and a full time fraghead.