Paying It Forward | WHT Alumni Stories

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Keble is proud to have supported the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust (WHT) Scholars since 2020. The WHT Scholarships and Leadership Programme is a global initiative that assists outstanding graduate students from around the world with fully-funded study at Oxford, alongside leadership development, mentoring and community engagement. As part of the Keble community, and with support from generous donors, these scholars enrich our academic life and go on to make an impact in a wide range of fields. We are delighted to catch up with three former WHT Scholars to hear where their journeys have taken them since completing their studies at Keble and how their experiences have shaped their paths forward.

Giri Shan Rajahram
2021 MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine

Reading for the MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine at Keble as a WHT Scholar was a transformative opportunity for me, coming from Sabah, Borneo. I remain unwavering in my belief that this opportunity is best paid forward through my work in public service. I have since returned to Sabah, where I work as a clinician-academic, scientist-researcher, and public health and policy advocate. I am currently the Head of the Department of Medicine at the Hospital Queen Elizabeth II, a Ministry of Health Malaysia Consultant in Infectious Diseases, and a Visiting Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore and Monash University Malaysia.

Clinical medicine remains my best teacher. It allows for deep reflection and prompts me to question systemic barriers to care. I am able to challenge the dogmas of clinical practice, and use my experience as a powerful lever for public health advocacy, enabling policy change. I work at the intersection of tropical diseases and emerging infections. As Principal Investigator on Plasmodium knowlesi malaria, my work has informed national and global policy (World Health Organization). More recently, I have focused on strengthening regional pandemic preparedness and tackling antimicrobial resistance. I also serve as Principal Site Investigator for the Wellcome Trust–supported Advancing Clinical Evidence in Infectious Diseases (ADVANCE–ID) network. This is the largest clinical trial network in Asia, involving 60 sites across 20 countries.

I still romanticise Oxford, the City of Dreaming Spires, and the University for its academic rigour. However, its lasting impression on me has been meeting scholars from diverse backgrounds, and the ability to have respectful, nuanced conversations on deeply held beliefs. This has led to shifting perspectives while respecting held opinions. It has continued to serve as a reminder that global health challenges do not occur in silos. Leadership requires the ability to listen, adapt, and collaborate broadly with moral clarity. This has certainly been more relevant in today's world. I remain eternally grateful to the WHT Scholarship and Leadership Programme for this opportunity.

Maya Sherman
2021 MSc Social Science of the Internet

Since graduating from Keble College as a WHT Scholar, my journey has taken me from AI consultancy in London to climate innovation work in India, to AI diplomacy in South Asia, exploring how emerging technologies can support more resilient and inclusive communities. 

After Oxford, I worked in AI consultancy in London before relocating to India to focus on how technology can support climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods, including work with the American India Foundation.

Today I serve as Innovation Attaché at the Embassy of Israel in India, advancing collaborations in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Alongside this role, I was selected as the Israeli expert to the Future of Work Committee of the Global Partnership on AI (OECD), where I co-lead the India project on AI literacy for the informal sector. I also teach and mentor students and startup founders across universities in South Asia on AI literacy and intersectionality.

In parallel, I co-founded a climate-tech venture with colleagues in Mumbai, developing AI solutions to support rural communities adapting to climate change. The initiative was selected to represent India at the UN’s Reboot the Earth programme, supported by partners including Salesforce and FAO.

While much of my work now takes place across continents, many of the ideas behind it began in Oxford, walking between the HB Allen Centre, the Oxford Internet Institute, and the Royal Oak on the way to Weidenfeld-Hoffmann gatherings and events. These were the places where we debated technological and geopolitical questions from our respective countries.

Somewhere during my time at Oxford, I began saying that I wanted to connect cables to sand, bridging advanced technologies with communities where innovation can make a real difference. Looking back, the WHT Leadership Programme helped turn that idea into a path: from Tel Aviv, to Oxford, and now to Delhi.

Max Zhurilo
2022 Master of Public Policy

My year at Keble with WHT changed the way I think about impact.

I came to the MPP with a decade of building health-focused projects, but without a framework for thinking about preventive health as a systemic challenge. I could see the problem. I just did not have the tools to address it at scale.

The WHT Enterprise Challenge gave me that framework. It showed me that a startup, a proper private-sector company, could be the vehicle for tackling a public health challenge. Not charity or policy alone. A business that makes prevention the default, not the afterthought.

That idea became Stayf, a digital wellbeing platform I built after graduating. We now work with multinationals like Mars and AstraZeneca, as well as local companies across Central Asia and the Middle East. Team challenges, activity tracking, behavioural nudges, all wrapped in white-label  apps tailored to each organisation.

The Enterprise Challenge also helped me raise investment and make the case that this could work as a real business. This March, Stayf was named one of Entrepreneur UK's "UK 100: Start-Ups to Watch." We have also filed a UK patent for our engagement methodology.

I practise what we preach, integrating the same principles we build into Stayf, consistency, community, small daily steps, into my life. I have been running marathons for years, and just completed the World Marathon Majors series with Tokyo.

What I value most from Keble and the WHT is the conviction that business and social impact are not separate tracks. The people I met there, scholars working on governance, migration, public health, helped me see my own work differently. I carry that perspective into every market we enter.

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The Keble community is proud of its Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust Scholars, past and present, and we warmly invite others to share their news so we can continue celebrating your achievements.