Shubham Bansal (Photo by Jayden Becles)
University of Washington senior Shubham Bansal has been named a 2026 Rhodes Scholar, one of 32 students in the United States to receive the award. Bansal, a neuroscience major from Mukilteo, is the UW’s first Rhodes Scholar since 2012 and the 38th in the university’s history. The scholarship will fund graduate study at the University of Oxford.
Bansal, who began college at 16 through the UW Robinson Center, said the honor feels like “a vote of confidence” in his work in community health and overdose prevention. He has been involved in research at the Benaroya Research Institute and Seattle Children’s Research Institute and has presented his work at national and international conferences.
He is also the founder of Narcare, a nonprofit that distributes overdose-reversal medication, trains community responders and advocates for expanded access to harm-reduction tools. The group has distributed more than $300,000 in supplies nationwide.
At Oxford, Bansal plans to continue studying addiction medicine and develop programs aimed at expanding access to evidence-based treatment.