High school students rarely have the opportunity to learn about the brain despite its clear relevance to their daily life. Erik Herzog, the Viktor Hamburger Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, set out to solve this problem 16 years ago by founding a St. Louis Area Brain Bee at WashU.
“Neuroscience is not a standard of learning in high school, but the teenage brain is intrinsically interesting to teenagers, so we think it’s a great way for them to combine their learning in chemistry, math, physics, biology etc.,” said Herzog, who co-hosts the St. Louis Area Brain Bee with Synapse, Washington University in St. Louis’ undergraduate neuroscience group.
The annual multiround competition drew 54 students, representing roughly 30 high schools, to WashU for a day of challenging questions, engaging neuroscience demonstrations and faculty-led panels about neuroscience careers.
Nathan King, a junior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, won this year’s Brain Bee. The final question: “If one parent has a single copy of the Huntington disease (HD) gene variant of the HTT gene, and the other parent has normal HTT genes, their child has a (blank) percent chance of inheriting the HD variant?”
His correct answer — 50% — secured him a neuroscience research internship at WashU this summer and the opportunity to compete at the 2026 USA Brain Bee Championship in April at the University of California, Irvine.
“I was really interested in the possibility of doing neuroscience research at WashU, but I didn’t go in expecting to win or do very well,” said King, who is a leader of his school’s neuroscience club. “But then just going through the written and oral rounds, I started getting into a rhythm answering the questions.”
Herzog credits Synapse members and faculty judges for the event’s ongoing success. This year’s judges were Mary Lambo, a senior lecturer in biology in Arts & Sciences; Hysell Oviedo, the Roger M. Perlmutter Career Development Assistant Professor of Biomedical Research at WashU Medicine; and Timothy Holy, the Alan A. & Edith L. Wolff Professor of Neuroscience at WashU Medicine. Student coordinators Rohan Rao and Sarah Friedman of Synapse recruited volunteers and organized the neuroscience demonstrations and “Brain Blast” training sessions.
Rao competed in the St. Louis Area Brain Bee as a high school student for three years, winning first place in 2021.
“My favorite part is always the oral competition,” Rao said. “I know how it feels to be where the students were. It’s so stressful, but also so exciting being in the top 10.”
St. Louis Area Brain Bee Top Finalists
Nathan King, Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Andrew Fei, John Burroughs School
Ethan Johnson, Central High School (Springfield, Mo.)
Devika Eluru, Parkway West High School
Vedanti Patil, Westwood High School (Austin, Texas)
Zoran Pan, Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Bryan Yang, Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Katie Jacobs, Oakville High School
Sarah Shao, Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Daniel Liu, Clayton High School
Ishaan Banker, Rockwood Summit High School
