Alisha Gabriel, a final year medical student in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), has been awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University. Alisha has been accepted at Hertford College and where she will undertake an MSc in Public Health at the Department of Public Health, Oxford University.

Alisha will begin in Oxford in October 2013 after completing the first year of her residency position at the Western University in Canada specialising in Paediatrics.

The Rhodes Scholarship is the latest in a long list of honours, Alisha has achieved whilst studying in RCSI. She was the recipient of the Paget Parish Scholarship, the OIL Scholarship, the Montpelier Re Scholarship and the Knowledge Quest/Green Family scholarships. She was also awarded the RCSI Biomedical Medal and was a finalist for the Dennis Gill Paediatrics Medal.

Additionally, Alisha was awarded the RCSI alumni research grant and conducted research on solar disinfection of drinking water with Dr Kevin McGuigan for communities in the developing world. She is the founder and President of the first Bioethics Society at RCSI which encourages reflection and debate on ethical issues.

Alisha said, "I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity. I am humbled at the prospect of joining such a brilliant and talented network of people at Oxford. I hope to develop new skills and knowledge that will help me in my future career as a physician."