Hi! My name is Jayden, and I am a rising sophomore at Tufts University pursuing a double major in International Relations and Sociology, with a minor in Legal Studies on a pre-law track. Originally from Fort Smith, Arkansas, I am deeply interested in and passionate about the intersecting fields of human rights, economics, and justice systems. In my free time, I enjoy exploring, thrifting, and being a foodie! 

Rising junior at Columbia studying Economics, Philosophy, and Political Science  

Hey! I’m Samuel Kamalendran, a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto (Mississauga), where I major in Political Science and minor in English and Classics. My research project is titled “In the Valley of the Shadow of Death: Evaluating the Protection Afforded to Vulnerable Canadians by Bill C-7” and will explore whether Canada’s assisted-dying legal framework sufficiently protects the disabled, mentally ill, and those in poverty. I was first introduced to this topic through a term research paper in a Canadian Political Science course, and quickly became very engaged in the subject. What truly stood out to me about this subject was the intellectual conflict underpinning the debate about the Bill’s provisions. I was fascinated by the justifications both sides offered—all of which contained some measure of truth—and the simultaneous inability of scholars to come to a clear consensus. I was also very drawn to the real-life stories of individuals who interacted with MAiD—every one of which spoke directly to the implications of any law that intersected law, medicine, and the ethics of self-autonomy. Furthermore, as an aspiring legal professional, I am especially interested in diving into the legal and parliamentary cases that drove the development of assisted-dying forward, and performing a comparative analysis of international jurisdictions to decipher key lessons which can answer questions about the effectiveness of MAiD frameworks. In my free time, I enjoy working out, creating music on the piano and drums, and exploring local rivers, lakes, and trails with my brothers. I’m also active in journalism at my university, interested in AI and business, and passionate about serving my peers through my work with my school’s International Centre and my upcoming roles on various committees and boards. I’m sincerely looking forward to learning more about you all and your research projects! I would love to connect with y’all via LinkedIn, email (at samuel.kamalendran@mail.utoronto.ca), and/or through the Scholars network. I hope everyone has a fun, relaxing, and productive summer! :)

Hello! My name is Christian Rebolledo, a rising sophomore in Columbia College at Columbia University studying Political Science and Medical Humanities with a Special Concentration in Public Health. I am passionate about intersecting the worlds of public health with political advocacy: people are social, and thus political. I am passionate about community building, civic engagement, and building systems for the next generation of leaders across disciplines. For my first summer as a Laidlaw scholar in the 2026 cohort, I will be characterizing postmortem data from ICE detention centers to identify trends across factors relatd to social determinants of health. I look forward to uncovering the quantitative facets of qualitative reporting currently populating the literature on carceral justice and public health.

I am a rising sophomore at Columbia University majoring in Applied Mathematics and Statistics while pursuing a minor in Linguistics. This summer, I am excited to combine these interests as I dive into the field of Computational Linguistics, exploring how mathematical modeling can be utilized to predict the decline of endangered languages and to better understand the relationship between endangered languages and dominant languages.

I am an undergraduate at Columbia University, currently studying Chemistry & Human Rights.