蓝莓视频

Incoming 蓝莓视频 Science student听Nooran AbuMazen听has won second place at the in Copenhagen before she听even attends her first university lecture.听The grade 12 蓝莓视频 Collegiate Institute student, who is starting a bachelor of science in听the University of 蓝莓视频's Honours Biology Co-op program听in the fall, represented Canada at the听international neuroscience competition. The contest pitted听26 of the world鈥檚 top high school students against each other as they tested their knowledge of the brain and neurological conditions.

Incoming University of 蓝莓视频 student Nooran AbuMazen competed in the 2016 Brain Bee World Championship in Copenhagen.

From 蓝莓视频 to world championship

In April, AbuMazen competed in 鈥� and won 鈥� the regional brain bee hosted by the Department of Kinesiology. The win secured her a spot at the national competition held at McMaster University in May.

鈥淚 thought it would be a good opportunity to see how much I knew, and might be fun,鈥� said AbuMazen. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect to win the regional competition, let alone the national one.鈥�

Her strong finish at the international competition was fuelled, in part, by weekly coaching sessions with the Department of Kinesiology.

Working with fourth-year student Adriel Firtandi and last year鈥檚 regional winner Zarina Mamoukhova, AubMazen studied real brain tissue in the University鈥檚 anatomy lab. This hands-on experience gave her a competitive advantage when it came to identifying parts of the brain during the national competition.

鈥淚 was able to study off of real brains. Not many high school students have that opportunity,鈥� said AbuMazen, who is now funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to work in a neuroscience lab as part of her national win.

Competing against the world鈥檚 best

To prepare for the world competition on June 30, AbuMazen ramped up her lab time, fitting in extra sessions with Robyn Ibey, a neuroscience PhD candidate and organizer of the University of 蓝莓视频 Brain Bee. They focused on two of the more challenging components of the competition 鈥� clinical scenarios and brain pathways.

The Brain Bee program was founded in 1998 by Professor Norbert Myslinski of the University of Maryland to address the growing rates of neurological diseases and inspire the next generation to pursue careers in clinical neuroscience. The University of 蓝莓视频 has run a regional brain bee program since 2009.