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| Brain Bee winner Colin Wood (third from left) with (from left) Sheldon Benjamin, MD; Grafton High School teacher Michelle Bailey; Colin’s parents, Tracy and Robert Wood; and Shirley and Michael Sheridan |
Grafton High School student Colin Wood was the winner of the 12th annual Central Massachusetts Regional Brain Bee hosted by the Department of Psychiatry at UMass Medical School on Saturday, Feb. 10. Wood was one of 47 contestants from 16 Massachusetts high schools who competed for a chance to represent the state at the United States National Brain Bee.
He accepted the Andrew Sheridan Young Neuroscientist award from event master of ceremonies Sheldon Benjamin, MD, interim chair and professor of psychiatry at UMMS. The award is named in memory of the late Andrew Sheridan, a graduate of St. Mark’s School in Southborough who had a passion for the study of neuroscience. Michael and Shirley Sheridan, his parents, established the award. It includes an all-expense paid trip for Wood and a parent to attend the national Brain Bee competition, which will determine who will represent the United States at the International Brain Bee, the world’s largest neuroscience competition for teenagers.
On arrival at the medical school, the students first took a written clinical neuroscience exam; identified 10 areas on brain models; and interviewed patient actors to diagnose their neurological or psychiatric conditions. The 11 top scoring students then assembled in the Albert Sherman Center Auditorium to answer oral neuroscience questions in “bee” style while their classmates, parents, and science teachers looked on.
The Central Massachusetts Regional Brain Bee is part of the U.S. program sponsored by the Society for Neuroscience to bolster high school student interest in medical and laboratory neuroscience careers.
Related links on UMassMedNow:
Teens put neuroscience knowledge to the test at Central Mass. Brain Bee on Feb. 10
UMMS Psychiatry Department puts students to the test at Central Mass Regional Brain Bee
