When the hit TV series “The Pitt” tackled organ donation, viewers turned to Reddit to share their own stories. Arushi Bansal worked with a team to turn those conversations into an award-winning research project.
Bansal, an undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, earned the Best Poster in Social Sciences Award at the David C. Frederick Honors College Spring 2026 Research Symposium for her analysis of how audiences responded to the show’s organ donation storyline.
The project began the summer after her first year, when Bansal joined a research team led by Beth Hoffman, PhD, assistant professor of behavioral and community health sciences. Working with graduate and doctoral mentors, she reviewed Reddit posts and categorized them based on whether they shared personal experiences, offered information or reflected professional perspectives.
“It was my first time doing qualitative public health research,” Bansal said. “There was definitely a learning curve, but having mentors at every level made a huge difference.”
What stood out most was how personal the conversation became. Many commenters described their own connections to organ donation, whether as registered donors, transplant recipients or family members. Others, including health care professionals, weighed in on the accuracy of the show’s portrayal.
Those responses highlight a broader gap: while most Americans support organ donation, far fewer are registered, even as more than 100,000 people nationwide await transplants.
The research also had an impact on Bansal herself.
“Even though I supported organ donation, I wasn’t registered,” she said. “This experience pushed me to think more seriously about that decision.”
Bansal presented her findings at the symposium and at an undergraduate research fair and is now helping prepare a manuscript based on the research. She is also contributing to a follow-up project examining additional storylines from the show.
For Bansal, the experience underscores how popular culture can shape public understanding of complex health issues.
“It’s really powerful to see how a TV show can start conversations and even influence behavior,” she said.
The collaborative structure of the project stood out, she added. Undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students worked together, guided by faculty, each contributing a different perspective.
“It really shows how interdisciplinary public health can be,” Bansal said. “You learn not just the research, but how to work as a team.”
A participant in the University of Pittsburgh’s Guaranteed Admission Program, Bansal plans to attend medical school in 2028 after completing her Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree.
Her experience, she said, reinforced the value of bringing public health and ethics into clinical training.
“Understanding the broader context — how people think, what they believe, how they make decisions — is essential,” Bansal said. “That’s what public health brings to medicine.”
-Clare Collins