The Los Angeles Brain Bee is a local competition where high school students from the Los Angeles area can come and showcase their neuroscience knowledge. The competition includes a series of written and practical tests to determine a semi-finalists from a larger pool of participants. The finalists then go on to compete in a Jeopardy style Q/A game to determine the winner. This student goes on to represent Los Angeles in the National Brain Bee. Each Los Angeles Brain Bee features a special neuroscience lecture from a prominent faculty member, which is open to students, teachers and parents. The BRI has co-sponsored this event for the last several years and hosts the event on campus every other year.
InterAxon is heavily involved in the Brain Bee and assists coordination of the day’s activities such as proctoring and grading the tests, and taking the students and parents to tour labs around campus. Information on application deadlines and other instructions can be found in the Brain Bee website (losangelesbrainbee.com). The 2020 Los Angeles Brain Bee is being held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope to meet in person next year for the 2021 Brain Bee event.
| Year | Place | Student Name | Grade | School Name | District | Background Description | Profile Picture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1st | Tanush Paradeshi | 9 | University High School | Irvine Unified School District | Tanush Paradeshi is a freshman at University High School in Irvine, California. He came to know of Brain Bee through some research he was doing regarding biology-related programs for high-schoolers. He particularly finds neuroscience as fascinating due to the massive potential of neuroscientific research and the central nervous system controlling most of the body, making it the central theme of biology itself. In the future, he hopes to specialize in the area of biotechnology(perhaps computations neurogenetics) and the experiences he had with studying neuroscience has reinforced this goal. |  |
| 2021 | 2nd | Preethi Nalluru | 11 | Evergreen Valley High School | East Side Union High School District | Preethi Nalluru is a junior at Evergreen Valley High School who participated in the Brain Bee to explore the field of neuroscience and dive into the future research possibilities in it. Neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to change, the complexity that comes out of a tissue, and the way the brain has evolved for more efficiency amazes Preethi. In the future, Preethi wishes to be a neurologist. |  |
| 2021 | 3rd | Zaighum Nagra | 10 | North Hollywood High School | Los Angeles Unified School District | Zaighum Nagra is a sophomore at North Hollywood HGM. The curiosity about brain function and diseases motivates Zaighum to continue exploring the brain. Thus, he found the Los Angeles Brain Bee to satisfy his curiosity, as well as expand his knowledge of the brain. The mystery and complexity of the brain excite Zaighum and encourages him to dig deeper. Zaighum would like to continue his lifelong interest, with his goal to become a neurosurgeon. |  |