By Ryan Allen Wight, Copyeditor
Brain Awareness Week will be March 15 – 21! To commemorate this campaign and raise awareness for the promise of brain science, Western New England University’s Neuroscience Club will be hosting programs on campus throughout the week. The club aims to use the week to introduce students to the world of brain research and begin to educate them about its importance – after all, we do all have a brain!
Founded in 1996 by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives (DABI), Brain Awareness Week works to inspire cultural excitement and widen support for brain science. In its beginnings, the campaign emphasized the hope offered by neuro research for increasing our understanding of brain ailments and our ability to develop better treatments or even cures.
Today, DABI has democratized the execution of this same emphasis and mission to its thousands of partners spread across more than a hundred different countries, allowing partners like Western New England University the freedom to host creative events to further the cause of awareness.
Neuroscience Club has seized the helm! And they are quite excited to share this week with you. Here are some things that students can have some fun with this week:
Tumor Talk, the first program of Brain Awareness Week, is from 4:00 – 6:00 PM on Tuesday, March 16. Students can go to CSP 103 for the watch party, or they can find the link @WNENeuroClub on Twitter to tune into this webinar, which will be hosted by Neurosurgeon Dr. Randy Damico.
Students can go play Brain Games in CSP 300 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM on Thursday, March 18. At the Brain Games event, students can test their knowledge about the brain in a Jeopardy style contest. All participants have the chance to compete for gift cards to local food places like Hot Table.
Are you curious about what’s happening in the Neuroscience Club? From 2:00 – 4:00 PM on Friday, March 19, students can learn about the research being done in the neuroscience lab on campus. The event consists of a presentation over both Zoom and Twitter livestream about projects being worked on by neuroscience students, followed by a live open house tour of the lab itself. In addition to the tour, students get to meet the new rat mascot and take goodie bags on their way out!
Make sure to follow @WNENeuroClub on Twitter and stay tuned into University Posts – more announcements and details are coming. As we near the historic week, Neuroscience Club will continue to post fun facts and tidbits, so give them a follow and keep an eye out! Those of you who do will be privy to inside information – others who are less proactive might miss that there are dope stickers being handed out at every event. Questions? Contact Catherine Butler at c[email protected]! Students can also check out brainawareness.org to find out about the week and other great virtual events to attend. Any students who are interested in joining the Neuroscience Club can tune into meetings over zoom at 6:00 PM every other Thursday!
