| Hakim hayat |
REAFFIRMING that Brunei’s mission to create a Generation with a Vision goes in the right direction, a group of prodigies made the country proud by garnering global attention through a perfect display of their research prowess.
The four-member sixth form student team won third place for their research paper on Parkinson’s disease presented during a week-long regional neuroscience and research camp for students from Asean and Asia-Pacific countries that was concluded yesterday in Singapore.
Brunei was represented by four students from Sengkurong Sixth Form Centre (PTES) – Awangku Abdul Hadi bin Pengiran Hamdillah, Muhammad Arif bin Kamal Hisham, Nor Izzatul Afiqah binti Yusof and Reisydah binti Haji Abdul Hamid – in the annual educational science programme called ‘STEP-NUS Sunburst Brain Camp 2016’, organised jointly by Singapore Technologies Endowment Programme (STEP) and National University of Singapore.
The event saw participation of hundreds of students from Asean countries as well as Japan, China, Sri Lanka and South Korea among others. Students in the camp were assigned to conduct a research on Parkinson’s disease. Upon their return to Brunei yesterday, the proud group shared that although they did not expect to be listed among the top three, they felt grateful that their efforts did pay off and were thrilled to learn that their work earned the panel of judges’ praise.
Representing the group, Izzatul told the Sunday Bulletin that for their winning research paper titled ‘Pinning down Parkinson’s Disease’, they obtained research materials from the library of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) as well as assistance from the Neurological Department at Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital.
Abdul Wahib Haji Abdul Hamid (Special Duties Officer, Academic Unit, Department of Schools, Ministry of Education), Awangku Abdul Hadi bin Pengiran Hamdillah, Nor Izzatul Afiqah binti Yusof, Cikgu Ilzam Haji Zainulabidin (chaperone), Reisydah binti Haji Abdul Hamid, Muhammad Arif bin Kamal Hisham, Cikgu Haji Ismail Haji Zainal (Principal of PTES) – PTE Sengkurong
“In our research paper, we included comprehensive information on the disease such as its causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, as well as a survey which our team conducted in PTES, which involved 100 participants and included details of awareness raising programmes in our school community, by handing out pamphlets to the participants,” Izzatul explained.
She also shared that the experience during the camp was beneficial and has given them the chance to share ideas, network with other students and meet experts in the neurological field.
“We got to have hands-on with a couple of neurology-based technologies and insights on some of the experiments done in labs. We also obtained knowledge on the culture of other countries such as Vietnam, China, Singapore and many more, and through this, we attained the ability to work as a team even though each members of the activity groups were of different nationalities, religion and culture.”
She added that they also had the opportunity to learn about certain parts of the brain that are responsible for each different kind of function such as the synapse, the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and especially the neurones, and understand the importance of the need to raise awareness of neurological diseases, especially Parkinson’s which commonly affects older men aged 60 and above.
The post Brunei crowned for research appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.