Pranitha Pakalapati

Pranitha is a Junior University Scholar from Houston, Texas, who spent the first ten years of her life in India. She is concentrating in Neuroscience and Chemistry and plans to graduate in May 2027. Following graduation, she intends to take a gap year to conduct research and volunteer as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) before pursuing an M.D./Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Pranitha has lived in the Honors Residential College (HRC) for all three years at Baylor, where she is deeply involved in the community and currently serves on the HRC Stewardship team.

Outside of the classroom, Pranitha is highly engaged in rigorous research, student leadership, and community service. She conducts undergraduate research in Dr. Kuhn's Neuroplasticity of Addiction Lab and holds various leadership positions across multiple student organizations, including the Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Honor Society, the Medical Service Organization, Gateway to India, and the Bears International Medical Students Organization. Extending her impact to the broader local community, she also serves as a volunteer EMT for the Robinson Volunteer Fire Department.

Pranitha’s favorite selection from her reading list is Sophocles' Theban Plays. Her Honors Thesis focuses on the role of the ventral pallidum in cue-reward learning, utilizing Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior. In her free time, Pranitha enjoys getting familiar with the local Waco coffee shops, visiting family as often as possible, reading fantasy novels in a cozy corner with a mug of hot cocoa, binge-watching TV shows on rainy days with the blinds fully open, and dancing her heart out during study breaks.