About the team
Meet the Executive Board of the National Student Bioethics Association
Ariadne Nichol
Founder and Executive Board
Ariadne Nichol is a researcher at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics and a third year medical student at UCSD School of Medicine. She earned her bachelors degree in Human Biology from Stanford University, where she graduated with Honors in Ethics in Society and was a Public Service Scholar. She has previously worked on global public health research ethics topics at Doctors Without Borders and at the World Health Organization (WHO). Her work has been published in the American Journal of Bioethics, the Journal of Medical Internet Research, PLOS One, and the Journal of Public Health Policy. Her areas of interest include global health research ethics; ethical challenges associated with emerging infectious diseases; as well as ethical and social issues raised by application of big data and machine learning in health care and for precision medicine.
Cara Hunt
Executive Board and Co-Chair of Conference Commitee
Cara Hunt is a research associate in the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone's Department of Population Health. She earned her undergraduate degree in science, technology, and society at Vassar College, after which she taught robotics and engineering to K-5 students. She then worked in the Education Department at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, during which time she earned a master's in bioethics at New York University.
Nell Mermin-Bunnell
Executive Board
Nell Mermin-Bunnell completed her BS in Psychology at Yale University in May 2021. At Yale, she conducted research in moral psychology with Dr. Paul Bloom and in applications of behavioral economics in public health with Dr. Woo-Kyoung Ahn. She also spent a year studying the ethics of digital mental health care with Dr. Nicole Martinez at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. She hopes to eventually pursue research at the intersection of behavioral ethics and bioethics. For fun, Nell enjoys singing and playing the guitar, running, reading, and pondering puzzling philosophical quandaries. Nell is currently a third year medical student at Emory University School of Medicine.
Meet the Commitee Chairs of the National Student Bioethics Association
Nathaniel Mamo
Bioethics Education co-chair
MA student at NYU Bioethics. Former Research Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute. Interested in the intersection of international development and health policy. Looking to learn more about collective-decision making in healthcare and priority setting.
Grace Xiang
Bioethics Education co-chair
I am recent graduated philosophy major from NYU with a bioethics minor. I am pre-med so I'm currently applying to medical school, while still hoping to be involved in an academic philosophy and bioethics communty.
Michele Anzabi
Outreach co-chair
Michele Anzabi is a Master of Science in Bioethics candidate at Harvard Medical School, where she received the Dean's scholarship for her work in advancing the position of the underserved and underrepresented in her field. She is currently researching fetal therapy ethics at Boston Children's Hospital. Along with minors in Chemistry and Hispanic Studies, Michele earned her Bachelors of Arts degree in Health & Societies with a concentration in Bioethics through the History & Sociology of Science department at the University of Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate, she worked in reproductive justice with PERIOD and the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania, global public health at the Shifo Foundation, medical humanities at the Collegium Institute, and clinical ethics at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Michele hopes to have a career that integrates her interests in bioethics and medicine.
Pranav Vadlamudi
Outreach co-chair
Pranav Vadlamudi is an undergraduate student at Bowdoin College interested in the intersection between philosophy and medicine. He loves engaging in philosophical discussions of any topic, but he especially loves discussing topics in epistemology and bioethics. He has a passion for rural health, service, and non-profit work, and is interested in conducting research on rural health ethics. He loves to bike, listen to music, and play harmonium in his free time.
Maya Roytman
Research co-chair
Maya is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Neuroscience and Public Health with minors in Bioethics and Spanish Language at Loyola University Chicago. She is a 2020-2021 Mulcahy Scholar and 2022 John Grant Research Fellow for her neuroethics project comparing ethical perceptions regarding brain-computer interfaces between various stakeholders. In addition to neuroethics, she is also interested in reproductive ethics, health policy, and end-of-life decision making. She is a part of Bioethics Bowl at her university and the Interdisciplinary Philosophy and Bioethics (IPAB) Lab. She aspires to pursue a career as a physician and researcher in clinical ethics.
Basel Tarab
Research co-chair
Basel Tarab is a physician by training, originally from Syria. He is very interested in Global Health Ethics, and intercultural bioethics and is always seeking opportunities to do research.
Kaavya Shriram
Social Media co-chair
I'm really interested in global medical ethics, especially the lack of validity and trust in medicine in rural areas and third world countries. My grandmother was a victim of unethical medicinal care in India which has fostered this interest. I do research and volunteer at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and am an avid member of Science Olympiad. I've dissected a dogfish, fetal pig, a turtle and a cat. In my free time I love to read romance novels, listen to music and bake.
Riya Bajpai
Social Media co-chair
I am a high school student in Virginia who gained in interest in bioethics through the co-curricular HOSA, when I competed in the Biomedical Debate event. Currently, I am in my school's biotechnology class, where I enjoy partaking in our ethical debates. I have a particular interest in clinical ethics and health policy and hope to pursue further education in public health and psychology!
Shivam Bhargava
Conference co-chair
As an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill, I am the Founder and President of the Bioethics Society of UNC, which is the first ever bioethics organization at my school with a general membership of 200+ students. Through this organization, I've led bioethics research initiatives, medical case writing, and guest speaker events. In addition, I've conducted my own bioethics research surrounding narrative medicine and anti-racism in clinical skills medical education. I've very passionate about the intersection between bioethics and education and am an aspiring bioethicist.