The University of Pittsburgh took second place at the 2026 National Bioethics Bowl on Saturday, April 11 at the School of Public Health, coming in one point behind Stanford University after initially splitting the judges’ opinions in the final round.
In its 18th year, the National Bioethics Bowl brings together teams of undergraduates from schools around the U.S. to discuss ethical issues in health care, biotechnology and medicine, giving strong emphasis to understanding the opposing view.
The Pitt team is led by Pitt Public Health Associate Professor of Human Genetics and Director of the Bioethics Certificate Cindy S. McCarthy, DHCE, MA, NREMT, captained by Matt Tang (BPhil ’26, health sciences, economics, bioethics certificate), and includes Arushi Bansal (BSPH, FHC, bioethics certificate), Pushpika Basu (BSPH, FHC, bioethics certificate), Collin Cummins (neuroscience), Kailin Gao, (BSPH, FHC), Sierra Gillis (emergency medicine, bioethics certificate), Renkai Luo (FHC, neuroscience), Morgan Marino (bioengineering), Lydia Roberts (BSPH, bioethics certificate), Divya Tase (BSPH, biology, bioethics certificate) and Rosemary Wei (neuroscience).
During weekly practices January-March, McCarthy and other faculty, current students and former competitors helped them prepare, even simulating debate rounds. These practice debates could be nerve-wracking, but the preparation paid off. “I am so thankful for all of their help pushing me to make my arguments stronger,” said Arushi Bansal. The team had the privilege of being consulted by Tiffany Lee (BSPH '25) and Harsh Hiwase (MPH, Hugen ‘26). Both consultants were prior competitors.
“Pitt has a longstanding history of being a pioneer in many facets of medicine, like our pioneering different kinds of transplants,” McCarthy told Pittwire in March about her preparation to host the 2026 competition, co-sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics. “And now as leaders in AI and medicine, it’s really important that Pitt acknowledges the complexity of bioethics cases and situations and really sets the standard for other institutions.”
With overwhelming interest and resources—space and otherwise—keeping the manageable total for each national bowl at 20 teams, 19 schools were chosen by lottery, with the 20th spot going to Pitt as the host school.
Teams competed in four total rounds with the top two scoring teams opposing each other in the final round. Pitt went undefeated in all four rounds, making it into the final round for the first time, a huge accomplishment in itself and something this young team hadn’t done before.
For Team Captain Matt Tang, it was a full-circle moment, having been with the Pitt club since their first year competing, in 2024. “Back then, we competed with Stanford in the fourth round and lost. To see our team evolve over the years and not only hold our weight against Stanford but also tie with them in the finals was incredible,” he said. Tang is proud of his teammates and since he’ll be graduating this year, he knows the club is in good hands.
“I had this sudden adrenaline rush with a mix of excitement and nervousness as I had a feeling my primary case, AI and Medicine, would be called,” said Bansal about learning they’d be competing in the finals. “I am so glad our team got to experience the thrill of presenting our months of hard work in front of hundreds of bright minds from across the country.” Bansal’s intuition was correct. Her case was called. They had five minutes to prepare.
Bachelor of Science in Public Health Student Lydia Roberts also had a brief moment of surprise at learning that they’d gone undefeated in four main rounds. “Half of me was stunned that we could defeat four other incredible teams, but the other part realized that our success was a natural consequence of our intense preparation.”
When the final round ended in a tie (one judge declaring one win, one loss and one tie for each team) – not something they’d necessarily expected – official scorers Jeanine Buchanich and Joseph McCarthy had to consult the rules. Ultimately, they determined that total points would be used, and Stanford was named the winner.
There were 30 judges evaluating competition throughout the bowl, including Beth Hoffman, Zoe Hendrickson, Grace Drnach-Bonaventura, Miranda Yaver and Tom Songer from the School of Public Health. Other judges came from departments across Pitt, faculty from other regional institutions, plus several UPMC medical ethicists. During lunch, teams got the opportunity to learn about graduate study opportunities at Pitt Public Health.
“For the day to run smoothly, the event also included 10 undergraduates that trained as moderators to run the classrooms, 25 student volunteers, and approximately 10 additional faculty and staff including Provost Joseph McCarthy and Vice Dean for Public Health Jeanine Buchanich, who were there to support this important undergraduate initiative,” McCarthy said.
Our huge accomplishments this weekend made me even more excited and motivated to compete next year,” Bansal shared. “Regardless of whether we made it to the finals, I already won because of the lifelong friendships I have cultivated with my teammates who have given me a sense of purpose and belonging here at Pitt.”
-Caitlin McCullough