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Interested? Great! Follow the links below to get more information just for you!
2008 NORTHERN VIRGINIA REGIONAL BRAIN BEE
A neuroscience contestAfter 23 rounds of grueling contest, Niaz Zafar Khan, a junior from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) in Alexandria, Virginia won the 2008 Northern Virginia Regional Brain Bee organized by the Endeavor Foundation for Excellence on Saturday, February 9, 2008 at the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. The Volgenau School of Information Technology & Engineering sponsored the contest by providing the facilities. The contest was judged by a team of three graduate students in neuroscience at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced study, Deepak Ropireddy, Rebecca Evans and Susan Nichole wright. The judging team was led by Professor Alexei V. Samsonovich. Sudha Guttikonda and Maita Esteban, both juniors at TJHSST, claimed 2nd and 3rd places, respectively.
After the contest, Niaz recants his experience: “The regional brain bee was an experience like never before being the first time I have never been in a live Q&A competition. I entered this competition because I have a great interest in neuroscience.” Niaz is passionate about science and mathematics and gives credit to his dad for encouraging him in his early school days. Niaz thinks he may end up in one of the medical fields and he is particularly interested in cardiology. Besides academics, Niaz is a huge sports fan and can talk about sports for days on end. Niaz says he is looking forward to the US National Finals at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
Sudha is interested in biotechnology, DNA science and astrophysics. Outside of school, she has been learning piano and painting. Sudha has also been a member of her school’s rowing crew team for the last two years. She is the secretary of her school medical society and is a member of Spanish Honor Society, National Honor Society, and Red Cross Youth Task Force. Sudha wishes to be a neurologist or a cardiologist. She is eager to take a shot at making it to the Brain Bee National Finals next year.
Maita also likes biology and mathematics. She likes neuroscience because it allows her to pursue both interests. Maita participated in several science-related activities. She has been a volunteer at the Invertebrate exhibit at the National Zoo and an intern at the Naval Medical Research Center. She loves outdoor activities such as canoeing and camping. She is a features co-editor of Thomas Jefferson’s literary magazine.
Kudos to Thomas Jefferson for its clean sweep of all the three top prizes in this regional brain bee and to its science teacher, Dr. Paul Cammer, for being such a great mentor and motivator to his students.
The winner of each regional bee in the US will be invited to attend the National Brain Bee championship scheduled to take place March 14-15, 2008 at the University of Maryland in Baltimore and is sponsored by the Spandana Foundation and the University of Maryland. The National Brain Bee is a quiz competition based on a book published by the British Neuroscience Association. In addition, the competition will include patient diagnosis and a neuroanatomy practical.
The national champion from each participating country will be invited to attend the International Brain Bee (IBB) on May 25-28, 2008 in Montreal, Canada. The IBB is sponsored by the Spandana Foundation, International Brain Research Organization, Canadian Neuroscience Association, Canadian Association for Mental Health and Addiction and the Society for Neuroscience.
The Brain Bee, founded and directed by Professor Norbert Myslinski, is a part of International Brain Awareness Week (BAW). BAW is an effort by brain scientists in 29 countries to educate the public about the importance of brain research, spearheaded by the DANA Alliance (www.dana.org) and the Society for Neuroscience (www.sfn.org).
For any further information about the Northern Virginia Regional Brain Bee please contact Dr. Gavini by e-mail at mike.gavini@gmail.com or visit www.internationalbrainbee.com.
© 2007 International Brain Bee. All Rights Reserved.
