WELCOME
Dr Piyali Mitra, PhD
Bioethicist • Philosopher • Researcher in AI, Reproductive Ethics, and Personhood
Deputy and Associate Editor, Asian Bioethics Review (Springer Nature)
Director, International Centre for Applied Ethics and Public Affairs (ICAEPA), UK
Reimagining Ethics in a Technological Age
Dr. Mitra's research lies at the intersection of bioethics, philosophy, artificial intelligence, reproductive technologies, religion, and public policy.
Through interdisciplinary inquiry, she examines fundamental questions concerning personhood, consciousness, moral status, reproductive justice, and the ethical governance of emerging technologies.
Drawing upon both Western and Asian philosophical traditions, particularly Nyāya and Vedānta, her work seeks to develop innovative ethical frameworks capable of addressing contemporary challenges in healthcare, biotechnology, and AI.
She is especially interested in how diverse moral traditions can contribute to more inclusive and globally relevant approaches to bioethics.
She is exploring various avenues for publications, ongoing projects. She has been an active participant in conference presentations, and collaborations as she engages with the ethical questions shaping our technological and biomedical future.
Find her on:
View her research impact on:
Track her down also on
About Section
Dr Piyali Mitra is a philosopher and bioethicist whose research explores the ethical implications of emerging technologies, reproductive medicine, artificial intelligence, personhood, and cross-cultural bioethics. She serves as Deputy and Associate Editor of the Asian Bioethics Review (Springer Nature), published under the auspices of the Centre for Biomedical Ethics (CBmE), National University of Singapore, and is Director and Secretary of the International Centre for Applied Ethics and Public Affairs (ICAEPA), United Kingdom.
Dr Mitra completed her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Calcutta, specialising in embryo ethics, reproductive ethics, and religion. Her work seeks to bridge normative ethical theory, empirical bioethics, and policy-oriented research through innovative approaches such as Collective Reflective Equilibrium and Dharmic ethical frameworks informed by Nyāya and Vedānta philosophy. Her current research focuses on AI personhood, neuro-consciousness, reproductive technologies, moral agency, and the ethical governance of emerging biomedical innovations.
A recipient of the Wellcome Trust Research Development Award, Dr Mitra has published in journals including The American Journal of Bioethics, Journal of Religion and Health, Journal of Dharma Studies, and the Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research. She is particularly interested in developing culturally inclusive approaches to bioethics that bring Indian philosophical traditions into dialogue with contemporary debates in healthcare, technology, and public policy.
Awards, Grant, and Fellowship
Recipient of the Wellcome Trust Research Development Award [grant no. 222870/Z/21/Z] from September 2024 to August 2027
Awarded travel grant by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Ministry of Education for travel to USA in the year 2023.
Awarded The Endowment Foreign Travel Scholarship by the University of Calcutta for the year 2019-2020. Grant No. ET/T/FTS/216/2019-20
Awarded Wellcome Trust Grant, in collaboration with Institute of Medical Ethics, UK (2019). Grant No. 215996/Z/19/Z
Scholarship by Government of West Bengal in India under the Swami Vivekananda Merit Cum Means (SVMCM) Scheme. 2017—2019 Selected for Swami Vivekananda Merit-Cum-Means Scholarship (V3.0), 2019-20, under Government of West Bengal, India.
Awarded study-grant for the course ‘Interreligious Understanding Today’ by the Woolf Institute, University of Cambridge, UK in the year 2019. Awarded study-grant for the course Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe: Modern Challenges by the Woolf Institute, University of Cambridge, UK in the year 2019.
Project Fellowship under UGC-SAP-DRS of Phase—I Programme in collaboration with Department of Philosophy, University of Calcutta, India. April 2008—March 2012. Sanction No. UGC/95/DRS/PHILO/Ph-III
Received scholarship by the Global Bioethics Initiative (GBI), New York for participation in the Summer School Program Online held from August 3 to 8, 2020
Received study-sponsorship by the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, University of Oxford, 2020
Received the InSc Young Researcher Award 2021, India for research contribution.
Journal papers
Rethinking Personhood through the Lens of Life Forms, Communality, and Moral Agency, Authors: Victor Chidi Wolemonwu, Piyali Mitra & Adetula Bolanle 2024. The American Journal of Bioethics, 24:1, 64-67,
Ethics of Freedom: Comparing Locke, Sartre and Gandhi, Authors: Ravichandran Moorthy, Panneerselvam S., Saji Varghese, Piyali Mitra 2022 Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics, Eubios Ethics Institute.
‘Human Embryonic Moral Status in the Embryo Research Debate from the Indian Religious School of Thoughts’ Author: Piyali Mitra Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics, 2021.
‘The Beginning of Life Issues: An Islamic Perspective’ Author: Piyali Mitra Journal of Religion and Health, 2021 Volume-60, pp: 663-683. Publisher: Springer International.
Stigmatization in the wake of COVID-19: Considering a movement from ‘I’ to ‘We’ Author: Piyali Mitra 2020 Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics, Eubios Ethics Institute
‘Jainism and Environmental Ethics: An Exploration’, Author: Piyali Mitra Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research. 2019 Volume-36, Issue-1, pp: 3-22. Springer India.
‘Embryo Experimentation in Buddhist Ethics’ Author: Piyali Mitra Journal of Dharma Studies. 2018. Volume-1, Issue-1, pp: 163-178. Publisher: Springer, International. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42240-018-0019-z
‘Invisible woman in reproductive technologies: Critical reflections’, Author: Piyali Mitra Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, April—June 2018, Volume-3, Issue-2, pp: 113-119. Available from https://doi.org/10.20529/IJME.2018.031
‘Philosophical Ruminations about Embryo Experimentation with Reference to Reproductive Technologies in Jewish “Halakhah”’, Author: Piyali Mitra IAFOR Journal of Ethics, Religion & Philosophy Volume 3 – Issue 2 – October, 2017, pp: 5-19. Publisher: The International Academic Forum, Japan. Available from https://doi.org/10.22492/ijerp.3.2.01
Book Chapters
Mitra Piyali and Wolemonwu, Victor Chidi 2026 A Dialogic, Moral Ethics Approach to Conflicting Covenants in Graphic Medical Ethics: A Casebook of Clinical Dilemmas from Around the World a forthcoming Routledge publication.
AI in Health Research: A Kantian-Ubuntu Ethical Model for Continuous Education of IRBs Authors: Barcaro, Rosangela; Mitra, Piyali; and Wolemonwu, Victor C. 2026, is soon to be published in the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence, Volume-II, Springer Nature Publication Book Series.
Mitra, Piyali 2024, Embryo Ethics: Traditional Hindu Perspective in The Routledge Companion to Indian Ethics published by Taylor and Francis Group and edited by Purushottama Bilimoria and Amy Rayner
Mitra, Piyali 2023, Water Symbolism in Hindu Culture in Indigenous and Local Water Knowledge, Values and Practices Edited by Basu, M and DasGupta, R. Springer, Singapore, 2023.
Mitra, Piyali 2022, ‘Happiness as Positive Dialogue and Development: An Indo Chinese Consideration’ Handbook of Dialogue and Development: India-China-EU Edited by Dr. Qichao Wang and Dr. Swati Chakraborty. Published by ABS Books, New Delhi.
Meet the Team
Working Collaborators and Co-Authors
Southeast Asia Bioethics Network --SEABION
Professor of Humanities, Medicine, and Ophthalmology.
Distinguished Educator, Penn State College of Medicine.
ACMLB, AFHEA
Rotherham College United Kingdom
President and Founder of ICAEPA
Researcher at Italian National Research Council.
Strategic Studies & International Relations Programme, School of History, Politics and Strategy.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
