Great Neck South High School sophomore Isabella Fong is the winner of the seventh-annual Long Island Brain Bee, hosted by the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell on March 1.
More than 70 students from 34 high schools across Long Island and New York City participated in this year’s competition.
This was Isabella’s second year competing in this regional event. In 2024, she finished in third place.
Now, as the first-place winner of the 2025 LI Brain Bee, Isabella will advance to the National Brain Bee Championship at Rutgers University on May 3-4 and vie for a chance to compete on the worldwide stage at the International Brain Bee.
Additionally, as the champion of the LI Brain Bee at the Zucker School of Medicine, Isabella has been offered a summer internship sponsored by the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. There, she will conduct research and complete a summer research project on a topic of her choice.
The LI Brain Bee is a one-day event and serves as the inaugural stage in a nationwide competition.
The LI Brain Bee consists of two rounds: a multiple-choice exam based on “Brain Facts,” published by the Society for Neuroscience, and a hands-on laboratory practical in which participants analyze and engage with real human brains and neurological specimens to identify anatomical structures and their functions.
The annual Brain Bee exposes high school students to the study of the brain and encourages early career interest in neuroscience research and clinical sciences. Participants also learn about the importance of scientific discovery in advancing understanding of the brain and the treatment of neurological disorders.
