First WVU Brain Camp kicks off in Morgantown, WV

Morgan Prunty, program assistant with the WVU School of Medicine’s Department of Neuroscience, said the camp was offered to those students who have expressed an interest in neurology or some kind of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) career at some point down the road.

“We’re trying to give high school students an early introduction to neuroscience and WVU and all the wonderful things we’re doing in neuroscience here,” she said.

“We’re also trying to give a chance for youth to get out of their hometowns to come here and experience this to see if this is a field they would be interested in going into.”

Prunty said the camp was the first of its kind for the Mountaineer community. Depending on how successful it is, she said the hope is that it can be developed further and expanded going forward. She added that the camp is also part of a wider outreach effort to show the country the work and achievements being pursued in the fields of medicine and technology at the university.

Brain Camp also draws inspiration from similar concepts that faculty brought with them when they came to work in Morgantown.

“Dr. Randy Nelson, who is the chair of our department, said when he was at Ohio State University, they did something very similar to this, and it was a huge hit there,” Prunty said. “So, we took that idea and tweaked it and made it our own and fit the model WVU has.”

Isaac McCabe, one of the campers, is a junior at Wheeling Park High School. He said the first day of camp also included instructions on lab safety and research ethics. He said he anticipated the opportunity to work with actual human brains later in the week, perform dissections and tour the various labs at the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, which was reopened earlier this year following massive renovations and upgrades to its facilities.

“I am an athlete, but I decided I wanted to spend my week enriching myself and I decided to come to something that was new here,” he said. “My family all went to Morgantown, so WVU is definitely a factor in that. I do see WVU in my future, whether it be neuroscience or other medical fields.”

Although the camp was just getting started Monday, McCabe said he would be interested in coming back during his senior year if the program develops further and adds new content.

Prunty said while the camp had students attending from West Virginia communities, many came from out of state, and some from as far away as the West Coast. As such, they will also be treated to a West Virginia Black Bears game and tours of the campuses. The hope, she said, is that some of the campers will eventually become researchers making breakthroughs happen in the labs at WVU Medicine.