Photo: Jack Cheng
Joseph Peng, a sophomore at Shrewsbury High School who received the Andrew Sheridan Young Neuroscientist Award, is heading to the 2026 USA National Brain Bee in California. Peng outlasted 33 other high school students in the 20th Annual Central Massachusetts Brain Bee at UMass Chan Medical School on March 7.
The 2026 champion, Peng was among 10 finalists after 15 rounds of questions during the competition’s oral elimination rounds. Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science student Parnitha Karapakula, Hopkinton High School student Hasika Chauhan and Peng were the top three finishers.
Evelyn Zuckerburg (Acton-Boxborough Regional High School), Aadith Maganti and Pratham Pai (Shrewsbury High School); and Yoanna Gandy, Jakken Ty, Charlee Miller and Johanna Easo (Grafton High School) rounded out the top 10 finishers.
E. Kale Edmiston, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences; and Caitlyn Edwards, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Neurobiology; and the 2025 Central Massachusetts Brain Bee champion, Shrewsbury High School junior Shamini Biju, were among a group of speakers who shared their research and educational experiences with the audience while exams were being scored.
Sheldon Benjamin, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry & behavioral sciences, served as master of ceremonies. David Weaver, PhD, professor of neurobiology, director of the graduate program in neuroscience and executive director of the NeuroNexus Institute, organized the competition.
Megan Fowler-McGraw, a PhD candidate in the neuroscience program at the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, led the exam grading team. Travis E. Faust, PhD, instructor in neurobiology; and Maryam Omran, MD, a psychiatry-neurology resident, served as Oral Bee judges.
