Indian teens shine at Brain Bee contest

SPRINGDALE, AR — Indian American teenagers swept to victory this month at the USA Brain Bee Championship.

Sojas Wagle, a 15-year-old sophomore at Springdale’s Har-Ber High School in Arkansas, was declared the 2017 national champion at the three-day competition.

The championship is held annually at the University of Maryland.

Wagle beat runner-up Aarthi Vijayakumar of Minneapolis, and Amit Kannan of Indianapolis, who came in at third place.

In addition to going to Washington, D.C., in August for the International Brain Bee Championship, Wagle won an eight-week internship in a neuroscience laboratory.

A donation will also be given to the brain-disorder charity of his choice.

The international competition will be held during August 3-6 in conjunction with the American Psychological Association conference.

Winners from 51 Brain Bee chapters in 30 states competed during March 17-19 in Baltimore in the event hosted by the University of Maryland, and featured written and oral exams, patient diagnoses using actor patients, and microscopic slide studies.