Trinity University

The Office of University Communications
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Apr. 30, 2012

Brain Bowl Victors

Trinity University's neuroscience majors capture coveted trophy

SAN ANTONIO - It's been three years since Trinity University took top honors, but neuroscience students have returned to victory in the 2012 Brain Bowl, winning by a mere19 points.

The Trinity team competed in April against students from Baylor University and Texas A&M University, fielding questions in categories such as "Neurochemistry" and "Drugs and the Brain."

The event, which was held in observance of Brain Awareness Week to honor neuroscience research, was sponsored by the Center for Biomedical Science and the pharmacology department at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSC).

James L. Roberts, the Cowles Endowed Professor of Life Science and faculty adviser to Trinity's Neuroscience Club Brain Bowl Team, was elated with the victory. He guided the last team to win the event in 2009.

Students on the winning Trinity team were Paola Almeida of El Paso, Texas; Ian Churnin of San Francisco; Melissa Delcont of Silsbee, Texas; Nicholas Dybdal-Hargreaves of San Antonio; Jake Feldman of San Antonio; Chiara Ferrari of Houston; Nick Holder of Southlake, Texas; Philip Lavere of San Antonio; Riley Newson of Kansas City, Mo.; and Melanie Sweeney of Houston.

David A. Morilak, professor of pharmacology at UTHSC, created the Brain Bowl and has maintained it with assistance from faculty and staff from the Center for Biomedical Neurosciences at the UT Health Science Center. 

Morilak writes the 76 questions used in the event, which is patterned after the 1960s quiz show "University Challenge," and includes three rounds of increasingly difficult short-answer questions. The winning school earns prizes and bragging rights, and Trinity bagged a great win in going up against last year's champion, Baylor.