About

Mission

The primary goal of the IBB is to motivate students to learn about the brain and to inspire them to pursue careers in neuroscience so they can help treat and find cures for brain disorders.

Board of Directors

Dr. Jaime L. Diaz-Granados

Board Chair (APA); Deputy Chief Executive Officer, American Psychological Association

Mr. Marty Saggese

Board Vice-Chair (SfN); Executive Director, Society for Neuroscience

Ms. Kathleen Roina

Board Secretary (Dana); Director Dana Education Program, Dana Foundation

Dr. Lars Kristiansen

Board Treasurer (IBRO); Executive Director, International Brain Research Organization

Dr. Norbert Myslinski

Immediate Past Chair, Founder; Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience, University of Maryland

Dr. Patricia Gaspar

Board Member (FENS); INSERM Director Emeritus, Paris Brain Institute

Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde

Board Member (SfN); Professor of Ophthalmology, Physiology, & Physiology/Pharmacology,SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Dr. Garth Fowler

Board Member (APA); Director Clinical Research Program, Rush University Medical Center

Ms. Natasha Slater

Board Member (IBRO); Director of External Relations, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, International Brain Research Organization

Ms. Tasia Asakawa

Board Member (FENS); Executive Director, Federation of European Neuroscience Societies

Dr. Maria Carrillo

Board Member (AA); Chief Science Officer, Alzheimer’s Association

IBB Team (part-time)

Astrid Eberhart

Executive Director

Dr. Ionut Dumitru

Academic Director

Marlene Aßfalg

IBB Coordinator

Florian Kohrt

IT Consultant

Lynnie Fein-Schaffer

Project Coordinator

Fatma Cherif

Social Media Coordinator

IBB Interns

Ugne Birstonaite

(Lithuania)

Antoni Klonowski

(Canada)

Helene Li

(Canada)

Viktoriia Vydzhak

(Ukraine)

History

1998

The Brain Bee was founded by Dr. Norbert Myslinski at the University of Maryland in the United States as a neuroscience competition for high school students.

2008

The first Brain Bee competition outside of the United States was held in Montreal, Canada, in conjunction with the Canadian Annual Neuroscience Meeting and in partnership with the Canadian Association for Neuroscience and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction.

2008–2017

The IBB has grown from a grassroots effort to a successful global educational and outreach initiative, thanks to extraordinary volunteer commitments of time and resources.

2018

In early 2018, five major organizations dedicated to brain research and education came together with the Brain Bee Founder to support the formal establishment of the IBB as a non-profit educational organization: The American Psychological Association (APA), the Dana Foundation, the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) and the Society for Neuroscience (SfN).

The central IBB organization formally links the efforts at the local, national and international levels, and presents the Brain Bee a globally connected initiative.

2021

The Alzheimer’s Association joins the IBB as a new Governing Partner.

Brain Bee Founder

Dr. Norbert Myslinski is a member of the University of Maryland’s Department of Neural Pain Sciences in Baltimore. He has devoted his professional life to teach about the human brain around the world. He founded the Brain Bee 1998 and fostered its growth into a successful global initiative. In 2016, Dr. Myslinski was awarded the SfN Science Educator Award supported by the Dana Foundation.

The IBB Logo

The Brain Bee logo consists of a combination of a brain on the top and a bee on the bottom, reflecting the name: the brain for the main focus of the competition, and the bee for the coming together for challenging, educational competition. The stinger of the bee represents the quill or tip of a pen, the sign of intelligence and education. The two lobes of the brain also resemble the traditional symbol of the heart, symbolizing passion for our fellow man.