FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON March 25, 2006
Manhasset, NY, High School Student to be Honored for Research
St. Paul, Minn., -
Ashish M. Bakshi of Manhasset High School, Manhasset, NY, will be honored with the Neuroscience Research Prize for work on computational neural modeling. Bakshi will receive the award during the American Academy of Neurology’s 58th Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif., held April 1 – 8. The Neuroscience Research Prize is sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology Foundation, and the Child Neurology Society. The award was established to encourage high school students to explore the world of the brain and nervous system through laboratory research. Bakshi’s work focused on designing a realistic computer model of the cerebellar granule neuron that could be run in a network simulation without the use of a supercomputer. The ability to run large-scale simulations on desktop computers could greatly enhance the understanding of neuronal interactions at the network level and, potentially, the effects of neurological disease conditions, such as ataxias and even prion-linked diseases. “I am honored to be recognized for my research on computational neural modeling and to have the opportunity to attend and present at a professional neuroscience conference,” said Bakshi. “I appreciate the efforts of the Academy to promote neuroscience research in highs school and have certainly learned a lot from my research. The 58th Annual Meeting takes place in the San Diego Convention Center. It is the world’s largest annual gathering of neurologists.