SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento prodigy is achieving another milestone Thursday, becoming one of the youngest Ph.D. holders in the world.
Tanishq Abraham, who just turned 20 over the weekend, is being awarded a doctorate at UC Davis. The Ph.D. was completed when he was 19 but the ceremony for the graduation was held just after he turned 20.
Graduating with a doctorate in biomedical engineering, Tanishq is now one of the youngest Ph.D. holders in the world.
"Getting a Ph.D. is a huge accomplishment for anybody but to be able to do it at such a young age means a lot to me," said Abraham.
Thursday's commencement was bittersweet for Tanishq. The Sacramento native spent all of his teenage years at UC Davis — first getting his undergraduate degree in 2018 at just 14-years-old then going on to research medical AI for his doctorate.
"I was interested in applying deep learning and artificial intelligence to microscopy and pathology for improving diagnosis of patients and to help guide surgeries for curing and treating patients with cancer," said Abraham.
And being a high achiever runs in the family.
Tanishq's sister, Tiara Abraham, graduated with a bachelor of arts in music and vocal performance from UC Davis last year at 16-years-old.
"Our parents are very supportive of what we want to do. My brother, he is in the stem field and I am in the arts," said Tiara Abraham. "I'm going to be rooting for my brother as he walks across the stage."
Tiara also sang the national anthem at her brother's commencement.
The proud parents cheering on these two in their studies: Bijou and Taji Abraham.
Taji is a UC Davis alumna herself.
"When people ask us how do you manage, just always go and see what they are interested in and try to support their passions," said Taji Abraham.
"It's a great achievement at this age to do what he's done. We're amazed by him every day," said Bijou Abraham.
So what's next for this prodigy?
Tanishq plans to continue in the field of medical AI and hopes to one day lead a research lab.