Varun Talanki of Ward Melville High School Wins 2007 Long Island Brain Bee at C.W. Post
Was runner-up in 2006; advances to International Brain Bee at University of Baltimore in March

Varun Talanki, a junior at Ward Melville High School, took first place in the Long Island Brain Bee at C.W. Post Feb. 10, 2007. He advances to the International Brain Bee at the University of Maryland March 16-17. To his left is his father, Raveesh Talanki. To his right is his sister, Veda Talanki.

Talanki, runner-up at last year’s Long Island Brain Bee, took the trophy for naming “the large structure connected to the back of the pons which helps to control movement” – the cerebellum. He won an all-expenses-paid trip to the International Brain Bee at the University of Maryland in Baltimore March 16-17.

Johanna Johnson, a student at Kellenberg High School in Uniondale, was the runner-up in the quiz-show-style competition.

Since it began in 2000, Long Island Brain Bee winners have finished in the Top 10 at the International Brain Bee five times, and won the international title in 2003 and 2004. The winner of the International Brain Bee receives a $3,000 cash prize and a trip to the Society for Neuroscience Conference in San Diego in November.

Seventeen students from local high schools competed in the 2007 Long Island Brain Bee. Approximately 30 students took part in free preparatory workshops on Saturday mornings in January and February offered by C.W. Post professors.

The International Brain Bee is part of Brain Awareness Week. Spearheaded by the Dana Alliance, a private philanthropic foundation, and the Society for Neuroscience, its goal is to motivate youth to learn about the brain and pursue careers in biomedical brain research in the war against mental retardation, cerebral palsy, spinal-cord injury and other brain disorders.

For more information on the Long Island Brain Bee and the International Brain Bee, visit www.liu.edu/brainbee.

Posted: February 22, 2007