For five days in mid-July 2023, high school students from around the world participated in the Center for Neurotechnology (CNT) Young Scholars Program-REACH (YSP-REACH). YSP-REACH was created to promote interest and increase knowledge about neuroscience and neural engineering in high school students.
This year 19 students attended the program in-person at the CNT on the University of Washington Seattle campus and 90 students attended morning sessions of the program online via Zoom. Although most students in YSP-REACH were from schools in the Puget Sound area, some students traveled to the UW campus from Canada, Oregon, Florida and North Carolina and others connected to the program online from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Utah, New York, Virginia, California, Idaho, Texas, Turkey, Korea, China, and Brazil.
Each morning of the program started with a lecture from a member of the CNT.
- Monday: Eric Chudler, Ph.D. – Journey into the Brain
- Tuesday: Azadeh Yazdan-Shahmorad, Ph.D. – Neurotechnology Solutions for Stroke Rehabilitation
- Wednesday: Amy Orsborn, Ph.D. – Brain-Computer Interfaces
- Thursday: Sara Goering, Ph.D. – Neuroethics
- Friday: Chet Moritz, Ph.D. – Stimulation of the Brain and Spinal Cord
Morning speakers were impressed with the many thoughtful questions from the students and the conversation surrounding each lecture. During the afternoon, students participated in hands-on activities, discussed college life with undergraduate students, toured the University of Washington campus and visited the Amplifying Movement & Performance (AMP) lab.
Students expressed their appreciation to hear from CNT faculty and learn about new treatments and therapies for neurological disorders and diseases.