The Bioethics Project
At Kent Place School
2022 – 2023 Scholars
Meet the 2022 – 2023 Upper School Bioethics Scholars from The Ethics Institute at Kent Place School.
Megan Altier, Class of 2024
Megan Altier is a current junior at Kent Place School and has been attending the school since Kindergarten. She became interested in Bioethics after watching numerous Bioethics Symposia where her classmates presented their research, thus sparking her desire to do her own research project. This year’s theme, “Gender and Bioethics” combined an ever-present theme in her life (having gone to an all-girls school for twelve years) with the ethics of the medical industry, and within this broad topic she decided to focus on the ethicality of the exclusion of pregnant women in clinical trials. Throughout this project, Megan explored how fetal and maternal life are valued and how these two parties relate to the ethical values and considerations of safety, autonomy, risk, beneficence, and non-maleficence. Through this examination, she realized how important of a topic this was and how it had the ability to alter the thought processes of others, and thanks to the knowledge and skills gained in the Bioethics Project, Megan feels prepared to share her work with others and to think about occurrences in her own life differently.
Naina Bhardwaj, Class of 2025
Naina Bhardwaj is a sophomore at Kent Place and has been attending the school since sixth grade. Her passion and love for ethics was sparked in middle school, when she joined the middle school Ethics Bowl Team in eighth grade and became exposed to ethical thinking, values, and frameworks. While watching the 2021-2022 Bioethics Symposium, she was able to observe how ethics and the medical field intersect, inspiring her to further pursue Bioethics. For her project, she chose to research the ethicality of youth intersex surgeries, surgeries performed to alter the ambiguous genitalia of individuals with intersex conditions. While this practice is commonplace and mostly legal in the United States, the early age at which the surgery is performed, the permanent side effects, and the lack of informed consent all make these surgeries ethically questionable and bring the values of autonomy and equality with the framework of consequentialism into play. Naina found great enjoyment in delving into her topic, researching the history behind traditional gender roles and reading about the real-life experiences of people who underwent these surgeries. She hopes to take her project even further by using her research to contribute to the work of intersex rights advocacy groups, such as InterACT, to make a lasting impact on the lives of intersex people and to ensure that their rights are being upheld and respected through the current legislation.
Dvita Bhattacharya, Class of 2025
Dvita Bhattacharya is a current sophomore at Kent Place School and is passionate about medicine, healthcare and ethics. Dvita’s interest in bioethics stems from her participation in Kent Place’s Ethics Bowl Team and her love of biology. She has always loved to explore and analyze ethical dilemmas, and pushes herself to broaden her perspective on challenging issues. Dvita’s research centered on the issue of sex selection and explored the role of parental autonomy, hyperagency and beneficence in selecting the sex of a child. Sex selection has been a major issue in countries like India, China and South Korea for years, and raises serious questions about the control parents should have over the traits of their children. This topic has intersections with issues of disability rights, eugenics and fetal rights, and is central to the ethical dilemma of genetic engineering. As reproductive technology and gene editing advances, how far do we allow parents to alter and select their children? Investigating these questions was an exciting and challenging journey which pushed Dvita to consider various perspectives on her project. The guidance of her mentors, teachers and fellow scholars helped broaden her outlook and introduced her to diverse, contrasting opinions on key ethical issues. Participating in the Bioethics Program has allowed Dvita to combine her passion for medicine and ethics, giving her a new perspective on the challenging decisions healthcare professionals make every day. As she continues her academic (and professional) career, she hopes to apply the ethical principles and frameworks she has learned to her work, in order to be a more mindful, ethical individual.
Rhyan Brown, Class of 2024
Rhyan Brown is a current junior at Kent Place School and has been attending since the second grade. She became interested in the Bioethics Project after completing an introductory ethics course in the ninth grade. This year, Rhyan initially decided to look at the ethicality of IVF and adoption. However, she ultimately chose her project, “You Get a Baby! You Get a Baby! Not Everyone Gets a Baby: The Ethics of Inequities Within Assisted Reproductive Technologies for Women of Color.” She chose this topic because it is not one that is commonly talked about or that many people have knowledge on, despite the fact that it is an important issue, especially in the United States. Rhyan is grateful for her time in The Bioethics Project and appreciates all of the knowledge that she has gained. In the future, Rhyan plans to carry the ethical decision making skills that she has learned with her.
Sophia Gandhi, Class of 2025
Sophia Gandhi is a sophomore at Kent Place, and has been attending since sixth grade. Although she has not had much prior experience with ethics, her interest in the rapidly expanding areas of science, technology and social justice led her to apply for the Bioethics Project. The timely theme of “Gender and Bioethics” allowed Sophia to explore the ethicality of hormone therapy for transgender youth, a topic she had previously been interested in, but wanted to become better educated about. Throughout the course of the year, Sophia was given the opportunity to grow her knowledge of ethical frameworks and values, and how they can be applied to real life situations, like those involving young people seeking access to gender-affirming medical care in the U.S. In her paper, Sophia utilized the frameworks of virtue ethics and consequentialism while considering the values of safety and responsibility with respect to various stakeholders. She examined the role of parents, physicians and governments in the decision-making process, as well as the relative risk versus benefit that comes with hormone therapy treatments. Lastly, she discussed how the age and maturity of a child can dictate their ability to give informed consent. Given the invaluable experience Sophia gained throughout the Bioethics Project this year, she plans to continue exploring the field the opportunities it has to offer, and potentially pursue a future career related to bioethics. She is incredibly grateful for the teachers, guest speakers and fellow students who helped open her eyes to a world of new perspectives throughout the year, and Sophia is looking forward to seeing how bioethics will play a larger role in her life.
Sahana Kapoor, Class of 2024
Sahana Kapoor is a junior at Kent Place and has been a part of the community since first grade. Her interest in bioethics has stemmed from her involvement in the ethics institute since middle school as well as her passion for science, history, and philosophy. The bioethics course was especially unique as it combined her interest in medicine with complex ethical dilemmas. For her project, Sahana researched the ethical implications of new male birth control methods, such as oral contraceptives and skin gels. Within this year’s overarching topic, Gender and Bioethics, Sahana wanted to delve into the perspective of men’s bioethical issues rather than focusing solely on women, as is often done at school. Through her examination of the values of equality, fairness, responsibility, and beneficence, she discovered the immense importance of her research on the future of contraception and gender equality as a whole. Sahana also greatly enjoyed the experience of exploring a newer topic that is in its early stages of development, and she looks forward to seeing the long-term implications of her research and male contraception in the years to come. Overall, being a part of the Bioethics Project has been an invaluable experience for Sahana, and she is excited to carry this newfound bioethical lens to future academic and real-life endeavors.
Julia Messerman, Class of 2024
Julia Messerman is a junior at Kent Place School and has been a part of the community since sixth grade. After participating in a number of courses in ethics, while in middle school and high school, Julia became interested in how ethics plays a role in history, medicine and law. For her project, Julia explored access to preventative screenings for women with low-incomes. She chose to study this topic by looking at it through the values of fairness, safety and responsibility. One main component of her research was responsibility. Who was responsible for ensuring that all women with low-incomes have the access to the mammogram technology that they need? Julia was able to look at different types of funding such as government funded, private donations and a combination of the two. Julia is thankful for her experience in bioethics and looks forward to continuing to look into bioethical issues that arise in her future studies and life.
Cassandra Miller, Class of 2024
Cassandra Miller is a junior at Kent Place and has been part of the community since fourth grade. She became interested in bioethics because it combines science, history, law, and medicine and supports exploring the full complexity of an issue. For her project, she focused on digital phenotyping, a developing field that seeks to use digital data from phones and smartwatches to make inferences about an individual’s psychological or neurological state. Though the field is still in its early stages, many companies are pursuing it: for example, Apple is conducting studies to find digital signals for depression and cognitive decline, and if the studies are successful, Apple hopes to make iPhone features to detect these illnesses. Cassandra loved exploring how medicine, health, and bioethics intersect with consumer devices, big data, algorithms, and AI—new technologies that are occupying a larger and larger role in nearly every aspect of our modern world, including medicine, yet have many ethical implications. She also enjoyed looking at the field of digital phenotyping in its early phases, and is excited to watch as the field develops in coming years. Cassandra is so grateful for the opportunity to be a student in the Bioethics Project and to work with excellent teachers and mentors throughout the journey. She has gained knowledge, skills in presenting and in conducting in-depth research, and a bioethical worldview that she will carry with her on her future endeavors.
Nicola Murungi, Class of 2025
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Annabelle Walter, Class of 2024
Annabelle Walter is a junior at Kent Place School and has been a part of the community since sixth grade. After attending the Bioethics Symposium during her freshman year and discussing bioethical cases within the High School Ethics Bowl Team, she became interested in the Bioethics Course as an opportunity to continue and expand on these conversations. This year, Annabelle chose to study the ethics of abortion through three ethical frameworks, deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics. The aim of her research and paper was to present all sides of the abortion dilemma even-handedly in order to broaden perspectives and foster respectful dialogue on a controversial topic. Though she found the knowledge she acquired to be invaluable, she is most appreciative of the skills she has gained by participating in this course. The ability to look at issues from various viewpoints, respect differing opinions, and engage in conversation with those you may fundamentally disagree with, are all necessary skills in an increasingly polarized society, skills that Annabelle is excited to carry into her future academic pursuits and beyond.
Ruo Han (Helen) Wu, Class of 2025
Helen Wu is a sophomore and has recently finished her second year at Kent Place School. Her interest in bioethics was inspired by her introductory course to ethics in freshman year, where she learned how to ask and explore difficult questions about life, healthcare, and much more through ethical frameworks and values. Guided by this year’s theme of “Gender and Bioethics,” she dedicated her project to the ethics of genetic engineering for gender dysphoria. Combining two vastly different fields, her curiosity formed through two presentations she had done in the Bioethics course. In one, she explored genetic modification for babies and the case of He Jiankui, and in another, she looked at transgender women in college sports. This led her to ask questions about the risks of pursuing a biological basis for societal concerns, the role of gender in society, and the consequences of using science to advance standards of care. Throughout her project, Helen examined the dangers of “playing God” and whether the rewards outweigh the risks of using gene editing for gender dysphoric individuals to alleviate suffering. She is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn more about important societal and medical issues and to be guided by a knowledgeable group of mentors and peers. She has gained a new perspective to look through the world, as well as new skills to aid her in her studies and beyond.