Meet the team
Ara Bakhteyar (She/her)
As the Co-founder, Chair, and Co-organizer of Neurodivergent @ Columbia. She is autistic, a full-time wheelchair user, and a master's student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. Ara graduated with an undergraduate degree in biophysics from Columbia. She is deeply passionate about advocating for neurodiversity, both in academia and beyond.
Ara serves as a Social Impact Fellow at Columbia World Projects for the 2023-2024 term and is completing the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Related Disabilities (LEND) fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Her research focuses on evaluating the transition from pediatric to adult medicine for individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Ara's commitment to ethical research is reflected in her leadership of a multi-center IRB-approved project titled "Neuroengineering Transitions in Bridging Diagnostic Modalities for Adolescents Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult Neural Care." This project explores the intersection of engineering and bioethics, addressing the ethical challenges faced by individuals with intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities and emphasizing the importance of adhering to bioethical principles in biomedical engineering research.