BOONE, N.C. — Mad Pilione’s time at App State has been defined by hard work and remarkable growth, from pioneering new academic paths to presenting at academic conferences to completing an internship with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Pilione, of Raleigh, will graduate on Friday with a bachelor's degree in religious studies with a concentration in public health and a minor in philosophy.
Pilione knew she wanted to study at a university surrounded by mountains and hiking opportunities. After touring App State in high school, she immediately felt at home.
As a member of Dr. Randall Reed's research group, Pilione designs surveys and conducts focus groups exploring how people engage with religious art. She credited Dr. Reed for helping her determine her academic path and strengthen her confidence as a researcher. "He encouraged me to attend conferences, welcomed me into his research group, and consistently pushed me to pursue opportunities I never imagined myself capable of," wrote Pilione. "I truly don’t know where I would be without his support, and I’m honored to learn from him."
The opportunity to present at the North Carolina Religious Studies Association's annual meeting as a researcher in Reed's lab was, according to Pilione, one of the most meaningful parts of her time at App State. "The process was incredibly rewarding and helped build my confidence. It was also inspiring to see what other scholars in the field are working on and to learn from the presentations of students and professors alike," she explained.
Pilione, who is the first religious studies major to graduate with the new public health concentration, shared that she was profoundly impacted by the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman when she first read it in a Theories of Religion course: "The book’s intersection of cultural beliefs, medical systems, and public health deeply shaped my academic path and inspired me to pursue public health more seriously alongside religious studies."
Pilione is currently completing a research communications internship with NIH's Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory, a group seeking to improve the way clinical trials are conducted by creating a new infrastructure for collaborative research, and particularly pragmatic clinical trials. In this role, she contributes to manuscripts by performing literature searches, summarizing information, drafting outlines, capturing meeting notes, and formatting content according to journal requirements.
"Mad has demonstrated the most growth as an intellectual that I have seen in my 20 years at App. I anticipate reading her scholarly articles some day." — faculty member in the Department of Philosophy and Religion
In her free time, Pilione enjoys hiking and cooking, which she describes as "two steady sources of joy" throughout her time at App.
Pilione hopes to apply her background in religion, culture, ethics, and philosophy to a master's degree in public health — and potentially a doctoral degree — in the future. "I plan to contribute to research in the field and feel very inspired by the project leaders on my current NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory internship," she shared. "I hope to one day do the kind of work they do, leading research that meaningfully improves health outcomes."
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About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at cas.appstate.edu.
By Lauren Gibbs
December 10, 2025
BOONE, N.C.
Mad Pilione, of Raleigh, will graduate on Friday with a bachelor's degree in religious studies with a concentration in public health and a minor in philosophy.
Mad Pilione, of Raleigh, will graduate on Friday with a bachelor's degree in religious studies with a concentration in public health and a minor in philosophy.