PARSIPPANY-TROY HILLS — The Mangal sisters, Natasha (26) and Sabrina (21), will both pursue PhDs in their respective fields this upcoming September.
Ambition fills the Mangal household, as both daughters of Mukesh and Gloria Mangal prepare to attend two of the most prestigious PhD programs in the world. Both graduates of Parsippany Hills High School (Class of 2009 and 2013), these young women now set their sights on post-grad degrees in law and nursing.
Natasha (right), has recently accepted a PhD position in Intellectual Property Law for the European IP Institutes Network Innovation Society (EIPIN IS), a consortium of the European Union’s leading research institutions aimed at fostering innovation through law. She will be conducting cutting-edge legal research funded by the European Commission, examining the future of copyright law in digital spaces. Her research will culminate into a joint PhD in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Strasbourg and Queen Mary University of London, accompanied by 3-month internships at CISAC and GEMA.
Sabrina (left), will be pursuing a PhD in Nursing at Columbia University in New York, where she will be conducting research alongside some of the most influential nurse scientists in the nation. She will be focusing her research on pediatric infectious disease prevention, where she aims to expand to a global level under funding provided by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and Center for Disease Control (CDC).
“I have always tried to be the best role model and cheerleader for Sabrina,” says Natasha about her relationship with her younger sister. “We truly inspire each other through our successes.” Natasha recently completed her Juris Doctor at the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago and took the Illinois Bar Exam this past July. Specializing in Intellectual Property (IP) Law, she served as President of her school’s IP Law Society, Editor of her school’s IP journal, and Teacher’s Assistant for the IP section of the Legal Analysis and Research course. She also competed on her school’s National Appellate Moot Court team, where over two competitions she earned the title of semifinalist and won best brief of the competition. Through her time in law school she received two scholarships and was awarded the Benjamin Hooks Distinguished Public Service award for over 200 hours of pro-bono legal work. Professionally, she has held numerous legal internships at the Chicago History Museum, IRI, inc., Global IP Law Group, and the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago for the Honorable Judge Daniel Patrick Brennan. Her determination through the past three years have helped to set her apart from her peers, enabling her to continue to pursue her interests in the IP law field and complete her new undertaking concerning the future of European law.
“With one of us in law and the other in medicine, we’ve got most of it covered!” Sabrina remarks on their different interests. Sabrina recently graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio with her Bachelors of Science in Nursing. During her education, she has completed over 1,600 clinical hours in world renowned hospitals including the Cleveland Clinic. Throughout her schooling she also worked as a research assistant, where she collaborated with her Principal Investigator to develop studies on managing chronic conditions in adults with neurodegenerative and musculoskeletal conditions. Through this position she was selected and funded to present her research at the Midwest Nursing Research Society’s 40th Annual Research Conference, where she won the Third Place BSN Student Poster Award. Her early exposure to research in the nursing field and her nursing externship on a pediatric Infectious Disease floor at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Cleveland informed her ultimate decision to pursue a PhD that would enable her to make a difference in the healthcare field. She aims to focus on epidemiology and disease patterns on a global scale that can help to prevent diseases in minority and underserved pediatric populations. Following her acceptance to Columbia University, she was awarded the Provost’s Diversity Fellowship to use towards achieving these impressive research goals.
Their parents Mukesh and Gloria, who came from their native Guyana to the U.S in the 1980s, and could not be more proud of their daughters’ accomplishments.
