2019-2020 Bioethics Scholars

Tara, now in her senior year, has attended Kent Place since the sixth grade. Her choice to join the Bioethics Project this year stemmed from her interest in Biochemistry; this year’s theme, “Being Human in a Brave New World,” allowed her the opportunity to explore the scientific advancement in those areas. As an avid sports fan as well, Tara decided to choose a topic involving the intersection of sports and science. She settled on gene doping as she wanted to learn more about the methods of cheating athletes use and how those methods are advancing. Through this opportunity, Tara has not only gathered a unique set of decision-making skills, but she also finds herself a better researcher and better public speaker than she was just a few months ago. As she moves on to college next year, Tara hopes to bring what she learned from the Bioethics Project to her classes and future endeavors.

Claire Chou is a junior at Kent Place School. She joined Kent Place School as a sophomore. She joined the Bioethics project this year because of her love of critical thinking, debate, and ethics. She chose to focus on organ donation and euthanasia, with an emphasis on the values of non-maleficence and autonomy. Claire is incredibly grateful for the opportunities she was granted through the Bioethics project, and feels she has become more well-versed in evaluating an ethical quandary as well as in public speaking. She would like to thank her teachers for their endless support, as well as encourage future scholars to apply for the program!

Adaora Dadson is a current sophomore at Kent Place and has attended since the sixth grade. She joined this year’s Bioethics Project this year because of her interests in science and medicine and how they intertwine with ethics and being part of a brave new world. Adaora studied the ethical implications of neural implants as she wanted to learn more about neurology and how the brain could be altered. She has loved learning more about neural implants and about the future of technology and how it could be integrated with the brain. Adaora is so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this project and learn about topics she never would’ve explored in other classes, and is thankful for her teachers, peers, and mentor who have helped her along the way. She has become a more educated and well-rounded person because of this program and has learned so much more about how ethics is incorporated into our everyday lives.

Shefali Kamilla is a current junior at Kent Place School and has attended since the third grade. She was inclined to participate in the 2019-2020 Bioethics Project, “Being Human In A Brave New World”, due to her intertwining interests in ethics, technology, and medicine. This school year, Shefali studied the ramifications of semi-autonomous pediatric surgical technology and the implications of advancing these innovations into more autonomous capabilities. She focused on the impact these developments have on pediatric patients, hospitals, insurance companies, and technology companies. She tackled the surrounding ethical dilemmas, such as the autonomy of parents consenting to these procedures, the responsibility and accountability concerns that arise from artificial intelligence responding unexpectedly, and the justice implications of advancing technology that cannot save all lives. Shefali is immensely grateful she had the opportunity to participate in this unique program. Throughout the year, she has attained a deeper understanding of conducting research projects and sharing her insights with others. Shefali is thankful for her teachers, peers, and mentor who guided her throughout this process as she pursued her passion for Bioethics. Shefali will continue to pursue her passion for ethics outside of the classroom, and she will take all that she has learned to her future endeavors.

Eliza Lox is a current junior at Kent Place and has attended the school since ninth grade. She was excited to join the Bioethics Project this school year because of her interest in biology, as well as the other sciences, and how that connects to her interest in politics, ethics, and philosophy. At the beginning of the year, she was intrigued by the question of “Do we need pain to be happy?”. This inspired her topic on defining and eliminating pain and how that ties into the opioid epidemic. Eliza also has a passion for environmental justice, which she likes to apply to her bioethics work. She is grateful to have been a part of the Bioethics Program and the unwavering support of her teachers, Ms. Crowe, Dr. Rezach, and Ms. Goldman. She hopes to continue to do research on her topic and have conversations about the future of pain treatment.

Arden Meyer is a current sophomore at Kent Place School and has attended since ninth grade. She was inspired to join the 2019-2020 Bioethics Project after watching the symposium her freshman year, and also because of her previous experience with a Bioethics project in middle school. Arden studied the ethical implications of the direct-to-consumer genetic test of 23andMe and how it could lead to genetic discrimination. She was inspired to study this topic because of how harmless genetic tests seem, and she wanted more individuals to be aware of the possible risks that are partnered with taking these tests. Arden has greatly enjoyed further educating herself on the positive and negative impacts of taking 23andMe, along with the corresponding ethical issues. She is very thankful for the opportunities she was provided with this year and will continue to incorporate ethics into her everyday life.

Sophia is currently a junior and has attended Kent Place since sixth grade. She decided to participate in the Bioethics Project this year because of her desire to see the intersection between emerging new technologies with those from the past, and to discover the applicability of ethics to the past, present, and future. Inspired by her interest in history, Sophia decided to examine the ethical implications of nuclear warfare through a historical analysis of the Hiroshima bombing. Throughout the duration of her project, Sophia has been able to understand how problems experienced in current society stem from controversial historical ethical dilemmas. Sophia is very grateful for her teachers, classmates, and mentor, who assisted and supported her throughout the year, and provided her with many opportunities to further pursue her interest in ethics. 

Georgia, currently a sophomore at Kent Place, has attended since ninth grade. She joined the Bioethics Project this year because she was eager to take a course combining her interests in science and ethics. Especially interested in medicine, Georgia chose telemedicine as the topic of her research project. She has enjoyed learning about telemedicine, finding it to be an intriguing and extremely relevant topic. She focused her work on telemedicine’s ability to extend healthcare while also changing the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Throughout the project, Georgia has learned about a wide array of ethical dilemmas, which have opened her eyes to today’s pressing ethical problems. Georgia is grateful to all her Bioethics teachers and mentors who have supported her through every step of the project and have always pushed her to think deeper. 

Georgia Rabin is currently a sophomore at Kent Place and has attended since second grade.  She has had an avid interest in ethics and social justice since middle school, and chose to join the Bioethics Project this year to further her understanding of ethics and different perspectives on critical and controversial topics.  This year’s topic was intriguing to Georgia because of her value of human connection and what place it has in an increasingly technological world.  She has enjoyed contemplating the evolving role of robots and scientific developments with her classmates this year.  For her project, Georgia examined the role that semi-autonomous drones should play in warfare and what impact the use of drones has on different stakeholders.  Through extensive research and discussion, she has learned about counterterrorism and the nuances of the concept of a “just war.”  She is very grateful for her teachers and peers who have pushed her to the next level in her ethical decision-making skills and have taught her so much about the world.  She will continue to use ethics in everyday life and plans to apply what she has learned in bioethics to a future career in engineering.  

Sami Sharp is currently a sophomore at Kent Place and has attended since 6th grade. She was inspired to pursue the Bioethics project after hearing the 2020 theme of “Being Human in a Brave New World.” Specifically, Sami was interested in studying regulation around many bioethical issues and understanding the differing perspectives of many nations around the world. Ultimately, Sami spent the year studying prenatal screening for Down Syndrome through the perspectives of four key stakeholders. As a part of her project, she also connected her interest with history and researched the eugenic movement in the 1920s, and drew connections between the current utilization of prenatal screening and the eugenics movement. Sami is incredibly grateful for the many opportunities that the Bioethics project has given her and would like to thank the teachers, peers, and the entire Kent Place community for their support. She will continue to utilize the importance of ethical thinking in many other classes and throughout other research projects.

Tanmayee Talla is currently a junior at Kent Place and has attended since 8th grade. Tanmayee decided to participate in Bioethics this year to further delve into her interest in the intersection of environment, ethics, and policy.  At the beginning of the course, Tanmayee learned that pharmaceutical pollution is a pressing issue, but one that has not been talked about or researched for the past decade. Inspired to make a change, Tanmayee chose to research and analyze the multiple nuances of environmentalism behind pharmaceutical pollution in water. Tanmayee hopes that her paper will begin to restart research, conversation, and action on pharmaceutical pollution. Tanmayee is very grateful for all the knowledge and assistance her teachers gave her this year, and she hopes to continue to expand on her project through ethical avenues and research. 

Elizabeth Wyshner is a junior at Kent Place School, where she has been a student for twelve years. She joined the Bioethics project this year because of her passion for scientific research, molecular biology, and ethics. When researching the concept of “Being Human in a Brave New World,” Elizabeth chose to focus on gene-editing for HIV resistance, specifically exploring the intersection among science, ethics, and religion. Elizabeth is grateful to have been a part of the Bioethics project and for the knowledge and new perspectives that she gained. Elizabeth feels as though she brought a unique aspect of religion to her Bioethics project, which allowed her to explore the impact of different religions on ethical values and on the ethicality of gene-editing. Elizabeth hopes to continue her research on gene-editing, both in ethical discussions and laboratory experiments.