UNO Student to Attend the Munich Brain Course
Hannah Bergwell is one of 10 students from around the world who were selected to attend.
- contact: Nolan Searl - University Communications
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At a very young age, Hannah Bergwell was fascinated by the human brain. Now she gets to learn how to dissect one.
Bergwell, a junior neuroscience major at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), is off to Munich to participate in the Munich Brain Course at Ludwig Maximillian University. The Brain Course includes seminars presented by physicians from all over the world, and also gets to participate in the dissection of a human brain.
She is one of 10 students from around world who were selected to participate in the conference. This is the third consecutive year that a UNO student was selected to attend.
It’s very exciting for Bergwell, who hopes to contribute to autism research after graduation. Her interest in the human brain, and autism in particular, was fostered years ago.
“I have a brother on the spectrum, so autism is in my life forever because of that,” she said.
The spectrum is a term that refers to wide range of symptoms, skills, and levels of impairment that people with autism can have.
In high school she planned and coordinated an event called “Art for Autism.”
“I painted in high school, so I made art with kids on the spectrum in middle schools and high schools in the area,” Bergwell said. “We worked on social skills, how to talk to peers, I made buddies with them and let them express themselves in a setting that they normally wouldn’t.”
After a few weeks, all of the art was collected for an art show hosted at Bergwell’s high school. A silent auction was held, and over two years she was able to raise $18,000 for an organization called Autism Speaks.
As successful as the fundraiser was, Bergwell admits she did not know many people when she first arrived at UNO. It was almost like starting all over, she said.
“I had no contacts. I didn’t know how to get my foot in the door, and I just needed to do a lot,” Bergwell said. “I just had to work up the courage and say, ‘I need help!’”
As it turns out, asking for help was a simple task that easily paid its dividends. She reached out to her professor, Dr. Suzanne Sollars, who helped her land a spot in a research lab at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Sollars also recommended that she join the Nu Rho Psi neuroscience honor society. Bergwell hopes to coordinate an autism fundraiser with Nu Rho Psi in the future.
Bergwell believes that if she hadn't reached out to Sollars for help, the chance to attend the Munich Brain Course wouldn't have presented itself.
“UNO just offers the best resources that I have found. So as long as you take the initiative and say, ‘I need help, can you point me in the right direction?’ It can go a long way.”