Melissa Nanotkar

Melissa Nanotkar is a junior at Paramus High School in Paramus. She has demonstrated her interest in STEM academically by taking AP physics and chemistry, as well as representing her school’s chapter of HOSA at the 2020 New Jersey Regional Conference. She placed sixth out of over ninety contestants in the HOSA Medical Terminology competition. Outside of school, she volunteers at the Christian Healthcare Center in Wyckoff by creating music playlists for patients that are designed to ease their anxiety. She conducts research regarding how the patients react to these playlists as a part of the institution’s MUSIC & MEMORY® program, an organization that studies the effect of music on the brains of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. In the future, she plans to continue her exploration of STEM by pursuing a career in the medical field.