Student Working Group Members
Samantha Ratner
Chair
Samantha Ratner is a junior in the honors program at the University of Michigan majoring in Biology, Health, and Society with a minor in the History of Medicine and Health. She is a member of the Dawid lab at the University of Michigan, where she researches the competence mechanism of Streptococcus pneumoniae. She is a former intern in the NYU Division of Medical Ethics and a current member of the University of Michigan Bioethics Society
Zack Blumberg
Editor
Zack Blumberg is a junior at the University of Michigan studying political science. He is a Senior Editor for the University of Michigan's student newspaper, the Michigan Daily, and he was previously also an opinion columnist for the paper. Additionally, he is an editor for several other publications, including the Michigan Journal of International Affairs and Michigan Foreign Policy Council.
Natasha Matta
Head of Social Media
Natasha Matta is a high school junior from San Jose, California interested in the intersections of neuroscience and psychology with law and policy, biomedical engineering, and immunology. She conducts research on a novel network approach to understanding adolescent bordeline personality disorder, which could allow for early intervention and more personalized treatment, and is working on computationally modeling connections between childhood ODD and ADHD and adolescent BPD. Natasha serves as Co-President of Biotechnology Club, on Neurodiversity Advocacy Committee, and as an executive for student-led organizations like headstartSTEM, Encode Justice, Rediscover STEAM, ENVISION by WiSTEM, and Coding for Impact.
Ellen Chang
Ellen Chang is a freshman majoring in Cognitive Science at the University of California- Los Angeles. She conducted studies as a research assistant looking at the effects of music on the brainwaves of Alzheimer's patients. She is interested in exploring the gender disparities in clinical research for neurological disorders.
Sanya Desai
Sanya Desai is a junior at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey. In addition to medical ethics and vaccines, she is interested in neuroscience and the neurological basis of psychological disorders.
Emma Kaplan
Emma Kaplan is a senior at the University of Michigan majoring in Biology, Health, and Society with a minor in the History of Medicine and Health. She works with the Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) Special Interest Group within the Society of Pediatric Psychology to create a series of scoping reviews to improve clinical care for patients with DSD. She is a current member of the University of Michigan Bioethics Society.
Serena Lee
Serena Lee is a junior at New York University majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Bioethics on the pre-health track. She is a former intern in the NYU Division of Medical Ethics. She is highly motivated by the intersectionality of health and bioethics, applying such interests to her experiences.
Arin Parsa
Arin Parsa is a ninth-grader at Stanford Online High School and the founder of Teens for Vaccines Inc., a vaccine advocacy youth organization honored by the United Nations Youth Envoy, President Joe Biden and the White House, and the media for its ongoing impact. Arin is the Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Teen Opinions Matter, a global teen blog listed on NY Times Learning Network, with readership in over 15+ countries. Arin is also a Davidson Young Scholar, student researcher, recipient of NYC Future Researchers Scholarship, currently analyzing longitudinal data from the CDC on factors affecting adolescent vaccine rates and decision-making, winner of several national competitions in history, humanities, and sciences. With deep interests in computational social science, law, and public policy, Arin hopes to one day work in health policy to address inequities such that all teens have access to vaccines and can consent to them.
Rebecca Patrizio
Rebecca Patrizio is a high school junior at Guilford High School, pursuing an honor roll of Advanced Placement courses. Her interests include neuroscience, bioethics. and genetics. She is currently writing a paper regarding IVF add-ons with a director of fertility medicine at Yale University. In addition, she has written a chapter on Surrogacy, which is in the process of being published. In the near future, she plans to collaborate with the Radiology Department of Columbia University to study fibrosis of the lungs. At her high school, she is the Co-Vice President of the Women in STEM Club and hopes to follow a STEM-based career.
Adwik Rahematpura
Adwik Rahematpura is a first-year biomedical engineering student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a research assistant at the Laboratory for Synthetic Immunity researching T-cell manufacturing and nanoparticle-based immunotherapy. Previously, Adwik took part in the New Jersey Scholars Program where he wrote a research paper on biomedical ethics. He is currently a member of the Engineers Without Borders Malawi Project Team at GT, and an EMT in his hometown in New Jersey.
Josie West
Josie West is a junior at Hunter College High School in New York City with a strong interest in bioethics. She currently serves as the Co-President of her school's Ethics Bowl team. She was also selected for participation in Clarkson University's Young Scholars Program during the summer of 2020, where she focused on the ethics of genetic engineering, specifically the ethics of using CRISPR to potentially cure and eradicate hereditary diseases. Josie is currently continuing her work within the field of bioethics with New York University.or function