NEW JERSEY “BRAIN BEE” MOTIVATES HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO LEARN ABOUT NEUROSCIENCE
Q&A Event Held at Schering-Plough Headquarters - Company Sponsorship of Regional Contest in 7th Year

KENILWORTH, N.J., Feb. 2, 2009 – High school students from around the state competed Saturday, January 31, in the 2009 New Jersey Brain Bee held at the world headquarters of Schering-Plough Corporation, Kenilworth, NJ.

Asma Khan, a 9th-grade student at Hackensack High School and resident of the town, took the top honor, winning $300 and an expenses-paid trip for two to compete in the annual International Brain Bee, which takes place at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD, in March.

Shweta Patro, a sophomore at Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School’s Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, took second place and Shannon Rasmussen, a senior at Cranford High School, finished in third place.

Students competed in a Q&A contest that tested their knowledge of the brain and nervous system. Students were asked about intelligence, memory, sensations, emotions, movement, stress, aging, sleep, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other related topics.

The New Jersey contest is one of many in the United States, Canada and Mexico in which students compete for a chance to qualify for the international bee that will be held in conjunction with Brain Awareness Week March 16-22, 2009. The contest aims to motivate young people to learn about the brain, capture their imagination and inspire them to pursue careers in brain-related fields.

Carrie Markgraf, a fellow at Schering-Plough Research Institute, led a team of SPRI and other colleagues who planned and ran the contest. Dr. Markgraf’s SPRI team included John Meredith, principal scientist; Jean Lachowicz, director, cardiovascular and metabolic disease; Kevin Keane, principal research pathologist; Maria Cirino, senior scientist; Erik DeBoer, associate scientist; Satinder Sarang, senior scientist; and, Maria Roman, senior scientist. Also participating were David Compton of Sanofi-Aventis and Tracey Spriggs of GlaxoSmithKline.

The contest is organized and judged by local members of the Society for Neuroscience, an organization of scientists and physicians dedicated to advancing the understanding of the brain and the nervous system.