Society for Neuroscience 2025 Education and Outreach Awards

Society for Neuroscience 2025 Education and Outreach Awards

SAN DIEGO - The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) will present eight individuals and groups with this year's Science Education and Outreach Awards, comprised of the Award for Education in Neuroscience, the Science Educator Award, the Next Generation Awards, and the Chapter of the Year Awards. The awards will be presented during SfN's annual meeting.

"The Society is honored to recognize these compassionate and creative neuroscientists who are helping to serve underrepresented communities and educate the public," said SfN President John H. Morrison. "Their work expands access to neuroscience education for populations that historically lacked such opportunities, engages all ages with programming and books for lay audiences, promotes awareness of people with visual disabilities, and encourages the next generation of neuroscientists."

Science Educator Award: Sadaf Ahmed and Manuella Oliveira Yassa

The Science Educator Award is supported by the Allen Institute and honors two neuroscientists who have made significant contributions to educating the public about neuroscience: one who conducts education activities full time and one who devotes his or her time primarily to research while conducting outreach, policy, and education activities. Recipients receive a $5,000 honorarium, an opportunity to write a feature commentary on science education in eNeuro, and complimentary registration and travel to SfN's annual meeting.

Sadaf Ahmed, PhD, is an associate professor of physiology and director of the Centre for Health and Wellbeing at the University of Karachi. She is a trailblazer in science education and outreach in Pakistan and has made history as the president-elect and first woman president of the Pakistan Society of Basic and Applied Neuroscience (PASBAN). She is also the founding president of the nonprofit the Advance Educational Institute and Research Center, the founder of Pakistan's first psychophysiology lab, and the Focal Point of Education of the Prime Minister Youth Development Centre at the University of Karachi. Through more than 200 public seminars, science awareness programs in Urdu and other local languages, and the use of media and interactive tools, Ahmed has brought neuroscience into everyday life, particularly for young people. Together with the Dana Foundation, the International Brain Research Organization, World Women in Neuroscience, and PASBAN, Sadaf has led neuroscience education and awareness activities that uplift women and young scientists, inspiring many of her students to pursue research, reclaim their voices, and take on leadership roles. By designing accessible neuroscience programs, founding new organizations, initiating health outreach in underserved communities, and mentoring young women, Ahmed has reimagined what it means to be a science educator in a developing country.

Manuella Oliveira Yassa, PhD, the director of outreach and education at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), has founded programs that span the pipeline of neuroscience education and engagement from elementary students and high schoolers to graduate students and adults. She is the founding director of the UCI Brain Camp, an immersive two-week summer experience for middle and high school students with a waitlist of hundreds, which blends neuroscience content with public speaking, data analysis, and lab visits. For many, this experience is the first time they can picture themselves as scientists. Yassa is a co-director of the USA Brain Bee, a competition for high school students with nearly 100 chapters across the country, and is the founding director of the Irvine Summer Institute in Neuroscience, which engages college students in an intensive ten-week research and professional development experience. Yassa also leads the CNLM ambassador program, which teaches graduate students to clearly communicate science to lay audiences and engage with the community. She brings creativity to science engagement and understands how to make neuroscience resonate with people from all backgrounds and across all ages while also pioneering efforts to evaluate the impact of outreach, ensuring these programs create lasting, measurable change.

Award for Education in Neuroscience: Diego Golombek

The Award for Education in Neuroscience recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to neuroscience education and training, typically at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. The recipient receives complimentary registration and travel to SfN's annual meeting.

Diego Golombek, PhD, a plenary professor of neuroscience at the University of San Andrés in Argentina, has made notable contributions to science education and science communication in Argentina and Latin America. In addition to being a mentor to students of various ages, including 17 doctoral students, Golombek designed the National Program for Science Education, which hosts activities such as science clubs, and founded Expedición Ciencia, a science camp for teenagers. He also coordinated the first National Science Popularization Program at the Ministry for Science and Technology and designed a new sector, the Cultural Center for Science, that has become one of the icons of Buenos Aires and has auditoriums, laboratories, and a science museum open to the general public. Golombek is also well-known as the author of over twenty popular science books, which cover everyday science topics from sex to cooking and explore neuroscience from different cultural angles. He is also the editor-in-chief of the science book collection, "Ciencia que ladrea…" ("Science that Barks"), which has over 120 published titles, and he has hosted several TV shows on the brain, including "Project G," "The Brain and I," and "Mind Night." Golombek's work has brought science to the general audience and inspired young students to pursue scientific careers.

Next Generation Award: International Youth Neuroscience Association and Ming-fai Fong

The Next Generation Award recognizes individual members of local SfN chapters who have made outstanding contributions to public communication, outreach, and education about neuroscience through activities such as classroom engagement and social media campaigns, typically at the high school level or below. The recipients each receive a $300 honorarium and a $750 travel award to help defray the costs of attending the meeting, and their respective chapters receive a $2,000 chapter grant to be used to continue the chapter's outreach efforts in the following year.

Pre/Postdoctoral: International Youth Neuroscience Association (Greater Baltimore Chapter)

The International Youth Neuroscience Association (IYNA), founded in 2016, is a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to connecting, educating, and inspiring the next generation of neuroscientists. Representing over 4,000 student members across the globe, its goal is to provide both free, high-quality educational opportunities and a global community to help students explore neuroscience and related fields. To achieve this goal, the IYNA runs an annual online "introduction to neuroscience" summer course, publishes a globally read student neuroscience journal, and supports an international chapter system that empowers students to conduct neuroscience outreach in their own communities. The group also organizes other events, including the Neuro & Career webinar series in collaboration with the Dana Foundation, an Ideathon in partnership with the Alzheimer's Association, and a Brain Bee Bootcamp with the support of the International Brain Bee. The IYNA team also collaborates with the Greater Baltimore Chapter of SfN and other neuroscience outreach groups in the Baltimore region to support local outreach efforts.

The IYNA is currently led by co-Executive Directors Eesha Oza at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Irene Zhang at Tufts University. Jiya Mody, currently at Yale University, served as IYNA executive director from 2023 to 2025 and is now a member of the IYNA Board of Directors. The IYNA was co-founded by Jacob Umans at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who currently serves as the chair of the IYNA Board of Directors.

Junior Faculty: Ming-fai Fong (Atlanta Area Neuroscience Chapter)

Ming-fai Fong, PhD, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, works to engineer plasticity-based tools for treating neurodevelopmental forms of visual disability. She takes her work outside of the lab by partnering with several organizations that support blind and visually impaired youth in Atlanta. She has taught STEM modules at summer camps for kids with visual disabilities, organized solar robotics and neural prosthetics workshops for blind and visually impaired children to learn about phototransduction and neuroengineering, engaged with blind athletes and their families, repaired devices used to emboss Braille into paper, and developed visual illusion demonstrations to teach principles of neuroscience and raise awareness about visual disability. These workshops not only engage hundreds of blind and visually impaired youth but also have given local researchers an opportunity to understand the lived experience of children impacted by visual disorders. Fong's outreach raises awareness about visual disability in the greater Atlanta area; brings the principles of neuroscience, physics, and engineering to multiple communities; and engages high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from multiple Atlanta-area schools.

Chapter of the Year Award: Chapter Perú, DC Metro Area, and NeuroBoston

The Chapter of the Year Award recognizes outstanding SfN chapters for their efforts and accomplishments across a broad range of activities that are in line with the mission and strategic initiatives of SfN. Three deserving chapters will be awarded $1,000 each for their impactful work at the local community level in advancing formal and informal neuroscience education in the previous calendar year.

Chapter Perú implemented inclusive and innovative initiatives that align with SfN's mission by engaging the public, empowering young researchers, building international partnerships, and bringing neuroscience to the classroom, rural communities, and policy discussions. In 2024, Chapter Perú organized both the IV Congreso Internacional de Neurociencias in Lima and the II Congreso Internacional de Neurociencias y Neuropsicología "Nuna Yachay Wanka" in the Andes. These two hybrid, free events brought together over 900 attendees and featured workshops, poster sessions, and roundtables on brain health, neuroethics, education, and gender equity. Chapter Perú also co-organized the II Simposio Women in Neuroscience, the Conscious Design conference on mindfulness for cancer patients, and the SfN Latin American Women in Neuroscience Social. Chapter Perú also launched the Eric Kandel Scientific Volunteering Program, which connects students with national or international mentors. They are a growing and dynamic force for neuroscience in Latin America and hope to use the award to print educational materials for K-12 students in underserved schools, organize a training retreat for neuroscience communicators, upgrade their website, and provide travel scholarships for students and young researchers from rural areas to attend the 2025 Chapter Perú Congress.

The DC Metro Area Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (DCMA) is committed to supporting its members' scientific and professional development. Membership and services to the community are free and the chapter hosts a variety of in-person and virtual events to maximize reach and visibility. In 2024, the chapter held the talk, "From the Lab to the U.S. Congress: Advocating for a Better Research Ecosystem with Dr. Adriana Bankston," on how to advocate for science, interact with policy professionals, and pitch scientific ideas; a Winter Science Meeting for the local neuroscience community, which featured keynote speakers, poster presentations, and a lightning talks competition; a career panel that facilitated a rich discussion of alternative career options for regional neuroscientists; a Brain Awareness Day at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, which provided hands-on activities to children and families; and an Innovation Day, a county-wide STEM competition in local middle schools. DCMA hopes to use the award to upgrade their outreach equipment (such as their microscope), rent event space for their annual science event, hire sign language interpreters for their events, and offer prizes for their poster competition.

NeuroBoston, the Boston area's SfN Chapter, has embodied SfN's mission through their commitment to advancing neuroscience education, research excellence, and public engagement. In 2024, the chapter hosted its Annual Scientific Meeting, which brought together 160 neuroscientists from 15 institutions across the region, including academic researchers, clinicians, industry professionals, and students of all levels. The meeting featured a keynote address by Beth Stevens, 62 poster presentations, and a poster competition that recognized research by early career scientists, from undergraduates to postdoctoral trainees. NeuroBoston also sponsored and participated in the Boston Regional Brain Bee, bringing 21 high school students to the competition, providing their study resources, sponsoring the winner's travel to the National Brain Bee, and organizing a tour of Boston University for all participants. NeuroBoston is excited to use the award for the creation of a "Portable Neuroscience Lab," a collection of interactive tools and models designed to bring hands-on materials into Boston classrooms, and to help fund a K-12 neuroscience outreach competition that will challenge students to develop creative projects demonstrating neuroscience concepts. Funding this competition will be particularly beneficial for schools in areas where science resources are limited.

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The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is an organization of nearly 30,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and the nervous system.