Her Story
About Pranali
Pranali Taskar is a professional in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry who has been working since 2014. She started her career at a pharmaceutical company in San Diego, benefiting from the guidance of mentors. They encouraged her to understand the reasoning behind her experiments, maintain diligence in a field where many attempts precede success, and focus on performing work to the best of her ability without excessive concern for outcomes. Taskar has experience creating new models through literature research, setting up laboratories from scratch, learning techniques such as ultrasound independently, and exploring computational biology along with AI-assisted tools to enhance productivity and stay current with industry advancements. She is currently seeking her next role following a period of maternity leave. In her professional and personal life, she prioritizes authenticity, integrity, hard work, persistence, and being mindful of the broader impact of her contributions. Taskar recommends that young women in her field form meaningful connections, serve as collaborative team players, identify mentors and allies, enjoy their work to accelerate success, maintain courage to change environments if progress stalls, and avoid lazy questions in favor of thoughtful inquiries while embracing failures as learning opportunities.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Pranali
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I had wonderful mentorship at my first job in a pharmaceutical company in San Diego. They taught me to think about why I was doing what I was doing, to be diligent in science where many experiments fail before success, and to focus on doing the work in the best possible manner without worrying too much about the outcome. They created a safe environment where mistakes are allowed as part of learning.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Form connections and learn what is going on around you as it is almost as important as the knowledge within you. Always be a team player, keep your eyes and ears open, build relationships, find a mentor and friend. Enjoy what you do and you will excel faster. Have the courage to pivot to a different environment if needed. Be a people's person and don't ask lazy questions, ask good ones. Don't be afraid to admit failures.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity, integrity, hard work, awareness of the impact of your work, persistence, being truthful to yourself, and not faking it. Realize that every small contribution is important and don't let failures weigh you down. In a data-driven STEM field, there is no alternative to hard work.
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