Rusen Ugursal

Hi, I'm Carys a second year studying Medicine at the University of Cambridge. My interests mainly lie in public health, preventive medicine and infectious diseases, however I find all aspects of clinical and community healthcare interesting. I am interested in potential research into antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and other pressing global issues, and seeing how we can ensure access to appropriate healthcare systemically by reducing inequalities. This summer I completed my Leadership in Action project with the Red Hen Project in Cambridge - a charity dedicated to helping children and families facing hardship. The charity hopes to expand to a deprived region in Cambridge and I evaluated the current services available for children, and where the charity can create the most long standing impact. The project focussed on preventative measures to ensure children can live happier and healthier lives by reducing barriers they may face. This project solidified my current hope to work in paediatrics or public health.

I am the Laidlaw Coordinator at the University of Cambridge, based at the King's College E-Lab.

Undergraduate Historian at the University of Cambridge. Keen interest in Social Justice, Democracy and Representation, Electoral Politics and Political Economy. Founder of Per Capita Media - Journalism, for all.

Hello! I’m a psychology researcher and the founder of HaHaHelps, a nonprofit organisation developing and delivering a comedy-based psychosocial programme designed to support young people in residential care. I am currently completing an MSocSci in Psychology at the University of Cape Town, where my dissertation examines the feasibility of HaHaHelps programme with adolescents in South African child and youth care centres. My broader interests include youth mental health, psychosocial intervention development, implementation, participatory approaches, and the use of humour and play to support connection, emotional expression, self-efficacy, and coping with uncertainty. HaHaHelps grew out of my Laidlaw Leadership-in-Action project at SOS Children’s Villages in Cape Town, where I designed and facilitated an improv-comedy programme for adolescents. Since then, I have continued developing and delivering the programme with young people in residential care and am now studying how it can be refined, evaluated, and ultimately adapted for use in other communities and settings. Before this, my Laidlaw research at the University of Toronto examined relationships between childhood adversity, aggression, and self-regulation. I’d love to connect with other Laidlaw Scholars and alumni interested in youth mental health, social impact, intervention development, social entrepreneurship, or simply finding creative ways to turn research into something useful in the world.