Sonakshi Dixit of Clark High School named a winner in the highly competitive Nevada Brain Bee competition. Sonakshi will be representing Las Vegas at the US National Brain Bee which will be held at University of Maryland campus in Baltimore, Maryland from March 17-19.

Future neuroscientists and neurologists from high schools in the Las Vegas area participated in the Las Vegas Brain Bee on February 18th, held at UNLV campus. The Neuroscience contest is yearly put on by the Nevada Brain Bee Association, a local non-profit. The organizers of the contest are part of the UNLV Neurobiology of Disease and Behavior Lab (kinneylab.org) along with local volunteers from CCSD and local businesses.

This year, there were 12 participants that represented Green Valley HS, Clark HS, West Tech HS, Northwest Tech HS, Foothill HS, Coronado HS, Legacy HS, and The Meadows HS. The winner this year is Sonakshi Dixit of Clark HS. The winner of the US National Brain Bee will then represent the USA at the World Brain Bee which this year will be held in Washington DC in the summer of 2017.

The Las Vegas Brain Bee is just one of about 170 local chapter competitions worldwide. The winners of the local chapter competitions then compete in their respective regional championships. The regional winners then go on to represent their regions in the World Championship. Last year there was a record 25 countries represented. Finishing in second place in the Las Vegas Brain Bee was Taylor Valentine of Legacy HS, and in third place Lucia Bevilacqua of Coronado HS. Attached is a photo of the top three Las Vegas Brain Bee winners. More information about the Las Vegas Brain Bee can be found at www.nvbrainbee.com. More information about the US National and World Brain Bee can be found at www.thebrainbee.org .

The Las Vegas Brain Bee is a local neuroscience competition for local young students, 13 to 19 years of age. The only qualification to participate is that a student be enrolled in a Las Vegas area high school. Entry to contest is free of charge.