Lizard Talk – Dr. Mani Ramaswami

As part of our ongoing high school Lizard Talks series, Oak Grove School welcomed Rishi Valley alum, Dr. Mani Ramaswami. Rishi Valley is a sister school located in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Professor of Neurogenetics at Trinity College Dublin, Dr. Mani Ramaswami, spoke to our high school students about his experience and research into perception, learning, memory, and the involvement of sleep in these processes. After 11 years at Rishi Valley School, Mani studied Chemistry in the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi before going on to get a PhD in Molecular Biology and Neuroscience from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Accompanying Mani were two fellow class of 1979 Rishi Valley alums, Harsha Lakshmanan and Sandhir Kini along with their spouses. Mani spoke about his efforts to deconstruct complex experiences into primary components and understand how these are first encoded and then integrated in higher brain centers to guide perception and behavior. After giving his talk and fielding questions from the interested students, Mani and friends were off to tea with Mark Lee and family, to reconnect and reminisce about their time together at the Rishi Valley School. 

Thanks to Mani for sharing his voice and expertise with our students!