Think about this: as you read these words on your screen, sensory cells in the back of your eyes are relaying millions of signals to regions of your brain, where they are interpreted into a cohesive image — in this case, text. Other areas of your brain assemble these letters, words, phrases and sentences into coherent thoughts, which are then interpreted and assessed, perhaps even spawning new ideas, all of which are stored in your memory. Even more importantly, these biomolecular interactions, the processes by which our minds interpret the world around us, differs by each individual. How can we be so different — yet all human? Pramiti Sankar (12) has tried to address these questions.

Pramiti has always taken a keen interest in life science. As time progressed, she realized that she had a special passion for human biology, and later, she realized that the area she was specifically interested in was neuroscience.

“The fact that everyone has a brain, everybody acts in a certain way, but no one acts in the same way, and [that] your brains are the key to kind of determining what kind of behavior each person would have [is] what drew me in,” Pramiti said.

Eventually, Pramiti became drawn to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and Fragile X, a syndrome typically characterized by poor intellectual development due to a mutation on the X chromosome. Because of the circumstances of the pandemic, Pramiti was unable to directly work with children affected by Fragile X, but in the past, she has spent summers with a family friend, whose son had autism.

“When I was younger, I would think, ‘What’s going on? Why didn’t he get the same treatment as everyone else?’ I spent a lot of time interacting with him, and I kind of learned how his brain worked in a way,” Pramiti said. “He is super smart in certain subjects, certain areas. I found that he had specific skills that totally debunked the myth that people with autism are not as capable.”

Pramiti first became interested in neuroscience through Women in STEM (WiSTEM), a club that facilitates and champions the involvement of girls in the fields of STEM. During her freshman year, some of the older club members encouraged her to attend an event hosted by the Bay Area Society for Neuroscience.

“I thought, ‘Hey, this sounds kind of interesting,’ so I went to the first meeting. I believe it was a [sheep] brain dissection. They talked about the brain and expanded upon what I had learned in eighth grade biology, so it was a good application of what I already knew,” Pramiti said.

Pramiti has continued to play an active role in WiSTEM throughout her years in high school. In her junior year, she was the director of the STEM buddies program, which brings lower school and middle school students together with high schoolers to learn more about topics in STEM. During that time, she planned all STEM buddy events, which included three major events: the lower and middle school visits, as well as the symposium.

“I can always count on her. If I ask her to do something, and it’s a rushed situation, I know if anybody is going to show up and work to make things happen, it’s her. She’s very reliable,” WiSTEM club adviser Anita Chetty said.

Pramiti’s own experiences in the fields of science have spurred her to connect girls at a young age with STEM.

“I’ve always been passionate about working with children and also encouraging women to become involved in STEM. I think from what I’ve seen, growing up, not many women were involved with me, though going to Harker is a bit different, because more girls are encouraged to code and do things like that,” Pramiti said.

For the middle and lower school visits, Pramiti worked with the lead STEM teachers or science department heads to design activities for the children. Finally seeing the children engage with science brings Pramiti joy.

“The activities all have a scientific basis. So say they did paper chromatography, [for example]. The ink bleeding through the filter grabs their attention … while we explain the chemistry,” Pramiti said. “[The work] was a little much, but it was really worth it at the end. The kids were so, so happy at the end, and it was wonderful. It’s just rewarding, seeing the amount they learned.”

Pramiti’s work ethic and drive to enable girls to connect with the world of STEM motivates her to pour her efforts into continuing WiSTEM’s goals.

“She is one of those people who will work behind the scenes; she’s not afraid to roll up her sleeves and get to work. She’s very positive. She’s very excited about our mission, which is to increase participation of females in particular, in STEM fields, and she’s very invested in that mission and moving the mission forward,” Chetty said.

Now, as president of the WiSTEM club, Pramiti has been able to share her knowledge with other members of the club and encourage them to continue exploring the areas of science and technology. These experiences have been incredibly valuable to her.

“WiSTEM has a lot of club members, and most of them are freshmen and sophomores. Last year I mentored a girl who’s a current sophomore, and I just had a really good time,” Pramiti said. “I was able to share my experience, and she was able to come to me with any questions she may have had. I love being able to share what I have gone through with another person who can benefit from the advice.”

Pramiti’s willingness to help others and facilitate group bonding has helped her.

“She’s always down to help you; she’ll be there. She’s the one who tries to include everyone and get people talking,” close friend Katie Li (12) said. “If she notices that someone’s more quiet, she’ll ask, ‘Oh, hey, what do you think?’ She’s really observant and in tune with how everyone’s feeling.”

Outside of Harker, Pramiti has continued to pursue her passion for human biology and neuroscience. During the summer after her sophomore year, she interned at an anatomical visualization company, where she was able to help develop and work with a virtual anatomy table.

“I learned a lot of anatomical terminology and figures, and at that time, coincidentally, they were making the products for their next software release. I mapped human blood flow, which was one of their newer releases in the product,” Pramiti said. “For the software [as a whole], I also helped create a manual. There was a user’s group conference [later], and then to see my work being presented was so, so fulfilling.”

Pramiti has also pursued her interest in neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly Fragile X, and has performed research in a lab about the condition in addition to publishing a paper.

“Writing the paper [involved] analyzing a bunch of past research papers. The fact that I was able to go through all of the papers, which are pretty dense in language, really opened my eyes up to the research that’s currently being done in the field,” Pramiti said. “I think that was probably one of my prouder moments.”

Over the years, Pramiti has embraced her love of science through the various experiences she has had. Looking back, Pramiti is thankful for the opportunities she has had to explore her own interests and connect with others.

“The field of neuroscience … I had always thought of it as something super technical. I didn’t think I was able to get involved in it as a high schooler,” Pramiti said. “The fact that I was able to get into what I thought would be a super technical field, and don’t get me wrong, it definitely is, but I was able to get involved in it as a high schooler — I’m glad that I encountered it and that people exposed me to it.”