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Australia's ‘brainiest' student proved herself in the national finals of the Brain Bee Challenge at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Perth today.

Jade Pham, 16, from Bankstown in New South Wales said she had been reading human anatomy books since she was young and found neuroscience particularly interesting.

She hopes to eventually become a neurosurgeon and "Make a difference in society."

Jade was among nine high school students from Australia and New Zealand who competed in the national finals of the competition that tests students' knowledge of the human brain and how it works.

It was the first time the Brain Bee National Championships had been held in Perth.

Brain Bee WA Event Coordinator and UWA Associate Professor Jenny Rodger said the year 11 students, including a finalist from Broome in WA, had competed against thousands of teenagers at State competitions across Australia and in New Zealand, to be selected in the top nine.

"The students competed in the final and toughest challenge today, as part of the SWAN Symposium for Western Australian Neurosciences," Dr Rodger said.

"The SWAN is held annually for all neuroscientists and neurologists in Perth. I'm sure not everybody in the audience knew the answer to every question asked of the students, as they were very difficult.  Success depended not just on learning, but on really understanding in detail how the brain works."

Jade Pham and New Zealand winner, Nicholas Kondal, will go on to compete in the international Brain Bee Challenge.

Brain Bee was been made possible by the support of The University of Western Australia, the Neurotrauma Research Program, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, the University of Western Sydney, the University of Queensland, and the Queensland Brain Institute.

Australian finalists and winner

• Jade Pham, James Ruse Agriculture High School, Bankstown, NSW - Winner
• Harman Sharman, St Mary's College, Broome, WA - Finalist
• Shruthisri Sridharan, Burgmann Anglican College, Crace, ACT - Finalist
• Sophie Watson, Somerville House School, Clayfield, QLD - Finalist
• Ryan Wood, Pedare Christian College, Gulfview Heights, SA - Finalist
• Jake Newland, Dominic College, Glenorchy, TAS - Finalist
• Rajan Venkatraman, John Monash Science School, Glen Waverley, VIC - Finalist

New Zealand finalist and winner

• Nicholas Kondal, Massey High School, Massey - Winner
• Matthew Moore, Christ's College, Geraldine - Finalist.

Media references

Carolyn Monaghan (Harry Perkins Communications Manager)  (+61 4) 48 021 932
Jess Reid (UWA Media and PR Officer)  (+61 8) 6488 6876 / (+61 4) 13 105 200