SUCCESSFUL SIXTH ANNUAL BRAIN BEE CREATED A HUGE BUZZ ACROSS TWO COUNTIES
Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience’s first place prize awarded to “Team Yo GABA GABA”
Jupiter, Fla. – From Belle Glade to Boynton Beach to Jupiter, students came from all corners of Palm Beach and Martin Counties to compete in Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience’s (MPFI) Sixth Annual Brain Bee on Saturday, February 4, 2017. Other highly motivated competitors traveled from areas as far south as Boca Raton and as far north as Jensen Beach for a special behind-the-scenes tour and a chance at coveted prize money. In the end, “Team Yo GABA GABA” made up of students Patrick Bosco, Barry Cheung and Jax Sprague from Palm Beach Gardens High School and Suncoast Community High School was victorious.
“We are very pleased with the ongoing success of our annual Brain Bee,” said Dr. David Fitzpatrick, MPFI CEO and Scientific Director. “In its sixth year, the event continues to allow MPFI an opportunity to ignite our youths’ interest in neuroscience and their commitment to solve the scientific challenges of our future. While we were quite impressed with the students’ talent this year, we were especially excited about the reach within our community-at-large. The participation of fifteen different schools across two counties illustrates that South Florida’s strong interest in science continues to expand and grow.”
Participants competed in teams of three to answer questions on neuroscience topics, which included learning and memory, emotion, sensation, movement, aging, neurobiology, brain anatomy, and neural disorders. Prior to the competitive portion of the event, Brain Bee participants had the opportunity to tour MPFI’s labs and facilities and participate in interactive neuroscience research demonstrations.
This year’s second place Brain Bee team included Winston Cheung, Raghu Radhakrishnan and David Young from Atlantic High School in Delray Beach. Viviana Brooks, Erin Marlow and Christina Marlow from Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach made up the third place team.
Other schools represented at the all-day neuroscience competition included:
- Boca Preparatory International School
- Boynton Beach Community High School
- FAU High School
- Glades Central Community High School
- Jensen Beach High School
- Jupiter Community High School
- Lake Worth Community High School
- Palm Beach Central High School
- Santaluces Community High School
- The Benjamin School
The Mary and Robert Pew Public Education Fund sponsored MPFI’s Brain Bee. The Florida-based public education foundation has supported the event with its generosity since its inception in 2012.
For more information about the annual Brain Bee, visit http://www.maxplanckflorida.org/brain-bee.
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About the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI), a not-for-profit research organization, is part of the world-renowned Max Planck Society, Germany’s most successful research organization with over 80 institutes worldwide. Since its establishment in 1948, 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists. It has produced over 15,000 publications, more than 3,000 inventions and over 90 spin-off companies, putting it on par with the best and most prestigious research institutions in the world. As its first U.S. institution, MPFI brings together exceptional neuroscientists from around the world to answer fundamental questions about brain development and function and to develop new technologies that make groundbreaking scientific discoveries possible. Their research is shared publicly with scholars, universities and other organizations around the globe, providing the necessary foundation of knowledge to develop treatments and cures for brain disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. For more information, visit www.maxplanckflorida.org.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Max Planck Florida Institute of Neuroscience