Houston, TX — The third annual Houston Brain Bee at Rice University was held on Saturday, March 6th 2021. The Houston Brain Bee is a prestigious competition that tests high schoolers’ knowledge of neuroscience and allows them the opportunity to advance to national and global levels. It is also an opportunity for high schoolers to learn more about the field- there were demonstrations involving different brain systems as well as an enriching lectures from guest lecturers, Dr. Jerzy Szablowski, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and a member of the Rice University Neuroengineering Initiative, and Kiara Vega-Bellido, a 4th-year Neuro PhD student at the Baylor College of Medicine.
High school students from all across Texas competed in the Houston Brain Bee. The first round of competition was a written test from which the 5 highest-scoring students moved on to the oral round. The oral round was judged by Dr. Nele Lefeldt and Dr. Jonathan Flynn of Rice University, who are both faculty advisors for the Rice Neuroscience Society. The Rice Neuroscience Society, an undergraduate-run student organization, hosted the Brain Bee as well as a preparatory workshop for the competition, held on February 27, 2021 on Rice’s campus.
The first place winner of the Houston Brain Bee was Surya Reddy, an 9th grade student from Jordan High School in Katy, TX. After moving on to the 2021 USA Brain Bee Championship at Northeast Ohio Medical School in Rootstown, Ohio, he won 7th place at the national competition. He is also involved in Science Olympiad, Math Counts, tennis, and orchestra. Ayushi Mohanty, an 11th grade student from Carnegie Vanguard High School in Houston, TX, took second place. Bryant Li, a 10th grade student from Seven Lakes High School, won third place. The Houston Brain Bee was sponsored by Rice University’s Department of BioSciences, the Society for Neuroscience and the Rice Student Volunteer Program, among others.
Ayushi Mohanty, the second place winner, said “The annual Brain Bee Competition is an incredible event held by the Rice Neuroscience Society. I was really excited to participate in the contest and am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the brain and its associated disorders from experts and scientists of Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine. My interest lies in neuroscience as I wish to treat neurological disorders that affect millions of people in the world and to research potential cures one day.”
The International Brain Bee was founded by Dr. Norbert Myslinski and is a program of MIND, Inc (Mankind for International Neuroscience Development, Inc).