11th NBC

Clinical Ethics in India

Strengthening Trust in Changing Times

Pre-conference Events: January 20–21, 2027

Main Conference: January 22–24, 2027

📍 Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Medical College, Pune, India

Organising Committee

Shubhada Aphale

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Dr. Shubhada Sunil Aphale, is Professor in the Department of Anaesthesiology at Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College, Pune. She earned her MBBS (1984) and MD in Anaesthesiology (1988) from B. J. Medical College, University of Pune, and has been associated with Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College since 1991 as one of its founding faculty members. Over more than three decades, she has contributed extensively to clinical practice, postgraduate education, and faculty development, with a sustained commitment to excellence in medical education. Institute recently felicitated her for her Outstanding Contribution. A recognized postgraduate teacher for over 25 years, Dr. Aphale has been appointed as an examiner for MD, DA & DNB programmes across Maharashtra and other states. She has also served as Chairperson of the Board of Studies in Surgery, at Bharati Vidyapeeth University and also other administrative and academic posts. She has also served as a reviewer for the Indian Journal of Anaesthesia. As Head of the Medical Education Technology (MET) Cell at Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune, she is playing an active role in advancing learner-centered, competency-based medical education and faculty development. Dr. Aphale completed the FAIMER Fellowship in Health Professions’ Education at the FAIMER Regional Institute, CMC Ludhiana. Her academic interests include health professions’ education, educational research, and the thoughtful integration of ethical values, professionalism, and reflective practice into clinical training. She is particularly interested in creating learning environments that promote compassionate patient care, responsible clinical decision-making, and the development of ethically grounded healthcare professionals.

Sunita Bandewar

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Dr. Sunita Sheel Bandewar, Dr Sunita Bandewar has training in Anthropology and Bioethics. She was with CEHAT – Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes, Anusandhan Trust, for 15 years. She was awarded an International Fellowship by the International Fogarty Centre, NIH, USA, to pursue a Masters in Health Sciences (Bioethics) at the Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto, Canada, in 2003-04. Her engagement with health as a field of enquiry over these past 20 years is primarily via empirical research and advocacy in the areas of women and health, global health, and bioethics. She was a senior research fellow in bioethics and global health at the University of Toronto on the initiative titled “Ethical, Social, Cultural Program in Global Health”, Canada, for five years. Through this programme, she had extensive opportunities to work in the African continent and engage with the newer ethical challenges in global health. She has published a number of papers in peer reviewed journals. Amongst others, she serves on the International Ethics Review Board, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Geneva; and as Secretary on the Managing Committee, Forum for Medical Ethics Society, Mumbai, the publisher of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (IJME). She served on the Board of Trustees of Sama Resource Group for Women and Health, New Delhi between 2013 and 2016. Her primary engagement is her association with the IJME, as one of the working editors. She is deeply involved in organisational matters with FMES. She is affiliated to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and is also one of the founding trustees of Vidhayak Trust, Pune. Besides these commitments as a volunteer, she works independently as a senior research professional, a consultant and a trainer in the areas of bioethics, global health, research methodology, programme evaluation and policy analysis. Her contributions to scholarship at ResearchGate

Sayantan Datta

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Sayantan Datta, (they/them) is an independent science journalist, a children’s book writer, and an assistant professor at the Centre for Writing & Critical Pedagogy, Alliance University, Bengaluru. They write and research at the intersections of science, health, gender, sexuality, and caste. They’ve been awarded the 13th Laadli Media & Advertising Award, and the inaugural Sage-Ashoka Prize for Critical Writing Pedagogies.

Lubna Duggal

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Lubna Duggal, is Senior Consultant – Word Lab, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru. She provides editorial assistance for in-house publications and works by IIHS researchers and practitioners, including academic papers, grey literature and public-facing formats.

Lubna is Associate Editor at Urbanisation, a biannual journal anchored at IIHS and published by Sage. She manages the peer review, copyediting and publication processes for the journal. She also manages the editorial office for Ecology, Economy & Society—An INSEE Journal as part of the work at the Word Lab.

She teaches the Writing Skill course at the IIHS (Institution Deemed to be) University.

Prior to IIHS, Lubna worked with Economic & Political Weekly (EPW), Mumbai, as senior assistant editor.

Her interests also include publication and medical ethics, stemming from her association with the Forum for Medical Ethics Society as a member of the Managing Committee, and the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics as a Working Editor.

Shivakumar Iyer

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Dr Shivakumar Iyer, completed his MBBS and MD (Medicine) from BJ Government Medical College, Pune, in 1991, followed by DNB (Medicine) in 1993 and EDIC in 2000. With over 31 years of clinical experience, he is Professor and Head of Critical Care Medicine and Deputy Medical Director for Clinical Governance at Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Medical College, Pune, where he heads the AETCOM Conduction Committee. He is Adjunct Professor at MAHE, Manipal, former President of ISCCM, and a member of ELICIT and the BASIC collaboration. He completed a UNESCO postgraduate diploma in bioethics in 2017 and, as a Commonwealth Scholar, an MSc in Palliative Medicine from Cardiff University in 2023. He served on Pune’s COVID-19 Task Force and contributed to Operation BREATHE and MAHA-ACT for training healthcare professionals. Widely published and an invited national and international faculty member, his interests include critical and palliative care, medical ethics, education, communication, and end-of-life care.

Sanjay Nagral

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Dr. Sanjay, MS, FACS, Sanjay Nagral is a surgeon based in Mumbai with practice focused on Hepatopancreatobiliary surgery. He is Director of the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology at Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre, a tertiary care institution in Mumbai.

He did his medical studies at the GS Medical College & worked at the KEM Hospital as Associate Professor of Surgery. He did fellowships at Kings College Hospital & Royal Free Hospital in London.

He has 120 publications in indexed journals, edited two surgical textbooks & contributed six textbook chapters. He is the co-chair of the South Asia Editorial Advisory Board of the British Medical Journal

He is the publisher of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics & chairperson of the Forum for Medical Ethics. He was nominated to the executive council of the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group, an international organization working on transplantation ethics & was its co-chair for the years 2021-24. He is also the co-chair of the Ethics Coommittee of the Asian Society of Transplantation.

He writes on healthcare specifically public health, medical ethics and health policy and has contributed to the Times of India, Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Mumbai Mirror & the Hindu. He penned a weekly column called “Second opinion” in the Mumbai Mirror and later the Hindustan Times. He coedited the book “Healers or Predators? Health Care Corruption in India’ published by Oxford University Press in 2018.

Meghana K Padwal

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Dr. Meghana K. Padwal, is Vice Principal (Undergraduate Academics) and Professor & Head of the Department of Biochemistry at Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Medical College, Pune. She also serves as a NABL Lead and Technical Assessor for Medical Laboratories as per ISO 15189:2012 and ISO 2022 standards. A distinguished academician and medical educator, Dr. Padwal is a Fellow of the Association of Medical Biochemists of India (AMBI) and has successfully completed the Advanced Course in Medical Education (ACME) 2024. Her notable achievements include the Dr. Patangrao Kadam Seva Gaurav Puraskar (2023) and the P. S. Murthy Award for her research on the “diagnostic value of LDH and its isoenzymes in transudative and exudative pleural effusion”. She has authored 35 scientific publications, including 20 international, 15 national, and one state/institutional publication, and holds five copyrights. Her areas of interest include medical education, laboratory accreditation, newborn screening, and cardiometabolic syndrome.

Jignesh Shah

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Dr Jignesh Shah, is Professor and Head of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Medical College, Pune. He holds an MD, DNB, IDCCM, IFCCM, EDIC, and FICCM, reflecting his extensive expertise in critical care medicine. He was awarded the Gold Medal for securing first rank in the University MD examination (2004) and has received several prestigious honors, including the ISCCM & Meher Chand Makhnidevi Memorial Award for standing first in the IDCCM examination (2006–2007), the Dr. Vijayalakshmi Kamat Award for Best Outgoing Diploma Student, and the Shakuntala Rani Anand Memorial Award for outstanding performance in IFCCM (2009). In recognition of his significant contributions to critical care, he was conferred the Fellowship of the Indian College of Critical Care Medicine (FICCM) in 2025. Dr. Shah has authored 54 publications in indexed journals with an h-index of 21. His areas of interest include mechanical ventilation, patient safety and quality improvement, and simulation-based medical education.