Brain Bee winner Xinrui Bao will represent Alaska at national championship in March
by Michelle Saport |
The sixth annual Alaska Brain Bee was held Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in the auditorium of the Anchorage Museum in partnership with UAA. This year's Brain Bee winner was Xinrui Bao, a junior at Wasilla High School. She will travel to compete in the National Brain competition in Baltimore, Md. March 17-19. The Brain Bee is an international competition that tests contestants' knowledge about nervous system cells, neuropathology and the structure and/or function of specific brain regions and landmarks. The Brain Bee's mission of "building better brains to fight brain disorders" helps encourage students to study neuroscience-related disciplines so that new research and medical discoveries can be revealed.
This year's Brain Bee began with a practice question round followed by activity stations exploring different themes in neuroscience. UAA biological sciences students enrolled in the neurophysiology course taught by Caroline Wilson, Ph.D. (Brain Bee organizer and assistant professor in the WWAMI School of Medical Education) led the activities as part of the service-learning component of their course. Activities included sheep brain dissections, motor control with "goofy" goggles and facial electromyography.
Students then competed in several rounds to determine the winner. In the first round, the students identified brain structures on models, sheep and human brains. The next round, led by Anchorage Museum Imaginarium Director Greg Danner, included scratching off their answers on multiple choice scratch cards where the answers were worth either one or two points. In the next round, the students answered fill-in-the-blank questions using a dry-erase board, earning three points for correct answers. Points were tallied before the top five contestants were announced and moved on to the final round with dry-erase board questions. Points were determined the two judges, Gwen Lupfer, Ph.D. (UAA psychology professor) and Jamie Elswick (WWAMI instructor).
2017 Alaska Brain Bee participants, from L to R: Jordan Kolb, Addie Barnes, Bryson Carrillo, Kimberly McDowell, Julianna Roberts, Iris Jones, Austin Reed, Vitalia Strait, Hunter Hanson, Joel Hofacker, Christopher Guerrero, Ted Hwang, Riley Taylor, Hyacinth Castillo, Samir Akal, Hanna Kraus, Corin Katz, Phillip Bowden, Krishna Nautiyal, Sarah Montalbano (second place), Natalia Wasner, Xinrui Bao (first place), Sierra Imoe (third place).
This year's Brain Bee winner was Xinrui Bao, a junior at Wasilla High School. Runners-up included second-place winner Sarah Montabalno, a junior at Mat-Su Career and Technical High School, and third place winner Sierra Imoe, a senior at Wasilla High School. Other participants included: Krishna Nautiyal (Lathrop, Fairbanks); Corin Katzke (West Anchorage); Addie Barnes, Jordan Kolb (American Charter Academy); Hunter Hanson, Vitalia Strait (Kenai Central); Iris Jones (IDEA); Riley Taylor, Ted Hwang (Robert Service); Christopher Guerrero, Samir Akal (East Anchorage); Hanna Krause, Phillip Bowden, Austin Reed, Hyacinth Castillo, Joel Hofacker, Juliana Roberts (Anchorage Christian); Kimberly McDowell (Palmer); and Natalia Wasner (Wasilla).
The winner, Xinrui Bao, will represent Alaska in the National Brain Bee in Baltimore, Md., March 17-19, thanks to a generous gift by the Anchorage Museum. Gifts from the Devery Prince Insurance, Ophthalmic Associates, UAA College of Health WWAMI School of Medical Education, UAA Center for Community Engagement and Learning (CCEL), Moose's Tooth, DANA Brain Alliance, UAA Recruiting & Retention of Alaska Natives into Nursing (RRANN), and Fred Rainey and Alanna Smalls also helped to support the 2017 Brain Bee.
The Brain Bee is an opportunity for many of the students in UAA Biological Sciences (BIOL) 413 - Neurophysiology to participate in service learning. The outreach is organized by the professor of the course, Caroline Wilson, Ph.D. (WWAMI) and a CCEL Community Engaged Student Assistant, Madlen Penn. This year, BIOL 413 students Lynnea Leamond, Ashton Curry, Andrew Richie, Christopher Sawyer, Alaina Prince, Kenyon Wright and Katherine Mitchell organized the neuroscience games and activities for the participants and their parents. Volunteers including Kelsey West (UAA), Jeremiah Lewis (UAA American Medical Student Association, aka AMSA), Anthony Resetarits (AMSA), and Ryan Johnson (visiting from California) also assisted in score-keeping. Maryann Kniffen from the UAA WWAMI School of Medical Education also provided resources about pathways and careers in medicine.
For more information, check out the KTUU report on the 2017 Alaska Brain Bee.
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