Ela Adhikari

Director

Ela Adhikari is a senior at BASIS Oro Valley in Oro Valley, Arizona, with a strong interest in the intersection of artificial intelligence and medicine, and has been a part of the Youth Innovation Council (YIC) since her sophomore year of high school. Her recent research has explored racial bias in AI skin cancer detection algorithms, examining how model performance may vary across different skin tones and emphasizing the need for inclusive, representative training data in medical AI. In a separate project, Ela developed a medical chatbot and evaluated its performance against several well-known chatbot platforms. She presented this work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she discussed its potential applications and limitations in clinical support settings. Beyond her research, Ela serves as the President of her school’s Red Cross Club, where she leads blood drives, organizes fundraising events like bake sales, and promotes student involvement in humanitarian efforts. She also volunteers through the Red Cross Summer Youth Corps, supporting blood drives in her community. In her free time, Ela enjoys spending time with friends, listening to music, and playing the piano. She hopes to aid the next generation of iStartValley innovators through her collaborative skills.