CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee 2024 Participants
Winnipeg Student wins “Best Teen Brain” in Canada and takes second place at the International Brain Bee competition!
By winning the 2024 CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee competition in May, Lisa Wei qualified for the world championship which took place from September 27 to October 5. Lisa competed against 36 students over eight days of tests and question-and-answer rounds to win silver at the 2024 International Brain Bee World Championship.
Congratulations to our top three 2024 CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee winners!
- First Place Canadian National winner: Lisa Wei, from Vincent Massey Collegiate, representing Winnipeg Brain Bee
- Second Place Canadian National winner: Emily Huang from Laurel Heights Secondary School in Waterloo, representing Waterloo Brain Bee
- Third Place Canadian National winner: Brielle Huang from Lillian Osborne High School, representing Edmonton Brain Bee
CIHR Brain Bee’s New Format Is a Winner!
More than 500 students between the ages of 12 and 18 participated in local Brain Bee competitions held in universities from St. John’s, NL to Victoria, BC this spring. Because students did not have to travel to McMaster University in Hamilton and compete in person, as was the practice in past years, a greater number of them could participate in the new virtual format, making the 2024 CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee competition more accessible to a more diverse group of students.
Nikol Piskuric, Associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University and the Chair of the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee, said the new virtual format was a success and hopes for even more participants in 2025: “I want to engage students from all provinces and territories, from all socioeconomic backgrounds, from diverse races and cultures, from big cities to rural areas. Neuroscience - like science in general - is for everyone!”
The top three finalists from the virtual round of the competition traveled to Vancouver in May to compete for the title of “Best Teen Brain in Canada”. They were: Brielle Huang, a grade 11 student at Lillian Osborne High School in Edmonton, Alberta; grade 10 student Emily Huang, from Laurel Heights Second School in Waterloo, Ontario; and Lisa Wei, also in grade 10, from Vincent Massey Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Winnipeg’s Lisa Wei was the winner and will represent Canada at the 2024 International Brain Bee World Championship at the end of September. She will compete against teens from more than 40 other countries. The participants will be tested on neuroanatomy, neurohistology, take a written exam and perform patient diagnoses.
“The Brain Bee is more than just a competition where exceptional students can demonstrate their knowledge,” said Dr. Piskuric, the Brain Bee Chair. “It's a chance for youth to get their first exposure to neuroscience, a topic that might not be covered in their high school biology classes. It's an opportunity for students to visit their local university and connect with undergraduate and graduate mentors. It's an opportunity for students to be exposed to - and maybe even participate in - cutting-edge research.”
In addition to receiving $1,500, first-place winner, Lisa Wei, was awarded an internship in a Canadian neuroscience laboratory.
“Right now there is a huge need for bright and creative students to enter the fields of neuroscience research and medicine” said Dr. Piskuric. “For example, the aging global population means that more people are and will be experiencing age-related neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease. Basic research in neuroscience has historically fuelled the field of artificial intelligence; and new discoveries about how the brain works and how humans think, learn and make decisions can help improve future AI. That's why we need the Brain Bee - to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, engineering, and medicine that help solve some of the big questions and problems of today.”
Past Brain Bee competitors have gone on to impressive careers in science and medicine. According to Piskuric, almost every Canadian National Brain Bee Champion is now an MD or a PhD, or is pursuing higher education in a STEM field. “Going forward, we want to see all Brain Bee competitors enter neuroscience programs at Canadian universities. We want undergraduate and graduate programs in neuroscience to grow and to attract the brightest Canadian minds” she said.
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