§ HERO
In partnership with the UCLA Brain Research Institute

BRAINWAVEWhat if every child understood their brain?

BRAINWAVE empowers K–12 teachers with cutting-edge neuroscience, classroom-ready tools, and the inspiration to transform how their students understand their brains, their learning, and their mental health — prioritizing the communities where this knowledge is needed most.

Join the BRAINWAVE Teacher Community See Our Impact Read Our Story 2026–2027 Programs

REACHING 191+ TEACHERS ACROSS 60+ LOS ANGELES SCHOOLS AND COUNTING · LAUSD-APPROVED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

BRAINWAVE neuroscience workshop
§ MISSION
Our Mission

Neuroscience Belongs in Every Classroom

Founded in 2024, BRAINWAVE was built on a simple but powerful belief: when teachers understand the brain, students thrive. We bring cutting-edge neuroscience from UCLA's labs directly into K–12 classrooms—prioritizing under-resourced schools where this knowledge is needed most and where early exposure can change the trajectory of a child's life.

Our goal is not just to teach brain science—it's to build empathy, stronger classrooms, and more compassionate communities. When students understand how their own brains work, they begin to understand each other. That's how we spark a generation of curious, self-aware learners and inspire future scientists from every community in Los Angeles—and beyond.

Read Our Story

Empower Teachers

Equip educators with neuroscience knowledge, evidence-based tools, and the confidence to transform their classrooms—starting Monday morning.

Impact Under-Resourced Communities

We welcome educators from all schools, while intentionally prioritizing communities with fewer resources—where access to neuroscience education is limited and the potential for impact is greatest.

Inspire Future Scientists

Early exposure to neuroscience plants seeds of curiosity—helping students from all backgrounds see themselves as the scientists of tomorrow.

Bridge Research & Reality

UCLA researchers bring their discoveries directly to classrooms—turning complex science into practical wisdom every teacher can use.

§ MANIFESTO

The Science of Learning

We believe every teacher has the potential to be a catalyst for change. Through immersive workshops, hands-on activities, and exclusive tours of UCLA neuroscience labs, we equip teachers with the latest brain research — translated into tools they can use starting Monday morning.

Teachers as Change Agents

Educators are the most powerful force in a child's scientific journey. We equip them with cutting-edge neuroscience knowledge, evidence-based pedagogy, and a community of forward-thinking peers — because when a teacher grows, every student in their classroom grows with them.

Equity at the Core

We prioritize under-resourced schools across Los Angeles where neuroscience education is rare but needed most. By emphasizing early exposure to brain science, we inspire students from all backgrounds to explore STEM fields and see themselves as future scientists.

§ IMPACT
A Living Measure of Change

A Movement in Numbers —
and in Lives

0+
Teachers
Engaged
0+
Schools
Represented
0%
Would Attend
Again
0%
Rated Workshop
5/5 Stars
0
Teachers
Waitlisted
0+
Students
Impacted
BRAINWAVE community of educators
Teachers celebrating with BRAINWAVE certificates
BRAINWAVE workshop group photo
What Educators Are Saying
Summer 2024 "

I now have strategies to address "sleepy" students in my classroom. This will impact their social emotional well-being and my level of frustration.

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles
Summer 2024 "

Thank you so much, Vidya, for inviting us science teachers to this very powerful workshop! It was probably the BEST professional development we have ever attended thus far!

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles
Summer 2024 "

Knowledge is power — once informed, our school community will prioritize sleep, which will hopefully improve student achievement. Too many of our students are sleep deprived, and it clearly impacts their learning.

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles
Winter 2024 "

Although this is a busy time of year and I was extremely tired this week, I am extremely happy I attended. I have learned a great deal and feel motivated to institute some positive change at my school site.

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles
Winter 2024 "

The BEST PD that I have ever been to.

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles
Summer 2024 "

The actual impact of sleep debt on learning — and what we can do in our classrooms to support sleep-deprived students, especially knowing the impact on memory. Connecting with other educators is always fantastic!!

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles
Summer 2024 "

I think it will assist me in providing more perspective to students as to why they should prioritize healthy sleep, instead of just telling them that they need it.

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles
Summer 2024 "

I'm going to make it my mission — immediately — to improve the sleep hygiene of my students. I want to have sleep journals in class.

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles
Winter 2024 "

I enjoyed everything — this has been one of the most interesting workshops I have ever been in.

BW
Workshop Participant
LAUSD · Los Angeles

BRAINWAVE in Action

A glimpse into BRAINWAVE workshops.

Video created by Vidya Saravanapandian
Music: Bensound
§ JOURNEY
For Educators

Your Journey with BRAINWAVE

1
Discover

Explore

Browse our evidence-based neuroscience curriculum and see what a BRAINWAVE classroom looks like — lesson previews, teacher stories, and research behind the program.

2
Register

Register

Register for our intensive 5-day Summer Workshop on the UCLA campus. No neuroscience background required — just a passion for your students.

3
Transform

Teach

Return to your classroom equipped with activities, materials, and the science to back every lesson. Watch your students engage with learning in a completely new way.

4
Connect

Grow

Join our national educator network — monthly webinars, peer collaboration, alumni resources, and an ongoing relationship with UCLA neuroscientists.

Start Your Journey
§ PROGRAMS

What We Offer

View All Programs

Neuroscience in the Classroom

Teachers explore key topics including sleep and learning, memory and cognition, brain development, neurodiversity (ADHD, autism, dyslexia), and mental health — translated into practical, classroom-ready understanding.

Hands-On Workshops & Lab Experiences

Interactive sessions include hands-on neuroscience demonstrations, exposure to real brain specimens and tools, guided visits to UCLA research labs, and insight into how neuroscience research is conducted.

Curriculum & Educator Community

Teachers design lesson plans to take back to their classrooms and continue their journey through webinars, peer collaboration, and ongoing engagement with UCLA researchers.

LAUSD-Approved Professional Development

BRAINWAVE offers neuroscience professional development approved through the Los Angeles Unified School District's Joint Salary Point Credit Committee (JSPCC). Eligible LAUSD teachers can earn salary point credit through approved BRAINWAVE workshops while learning directly from UCLA neuroscientists and educators.

Professional development • Salary point credit • UCLA neuroscience

§ EXPLORE PROGRAMS
What We Cover

Explore Our Programs

Sleep & Circadian Biology

How sleep and biological rhythms shape learning, memory, behavior, and brain development.

Learning & Memory

How the brain encodes, stores, retrieves, and strengthens information—and what neuroscience can teach us about learning.

Brain Development

How the brain changes from childhood through adolescence and how development shapes learning, emotion, behavior, and decision-making.

Neurodiversity

Understanding differences in brain development, learning, attention, and behavior and what they mean for students and classrooms.

Stress, Emotion & Mental Health

The neuroscience of stress, emotion, resilience, and mental well-being during development.

Attention & Technology

How attention works in the brain and what neuroscience is revealing about focus, distraction, multitasking, and technology.

Autism & Neurodevelopment

Current neuroscience of autism, neurodevelopment, and individual differences in the developing brain.

The Social Brain

How the brain supports social connection, relationships, belonging, and learning.

Brain Health Across the Lifespan

How biological, behavioral, and environmental factors shape brain health across development and adulthood.

Reward, Motivation & Habits

The brain systems underlying reward, motivation, decision-making, and habit formation.

Drugs, Addiction & the Adolescent Brain

How substances interact with developing brain systems involved in reward, decision-making, and behavior.

Every BRAINWAVE program combines cutting-edge neuroscience with hands-on learning and translation to classroom practice.

§ 2026–2027
2026–2027 Academic Year

2026–2027 BRAINWAVE Educator Programs

BRAINWAVE is expanding its professional development programming for K–12 educators in 2026–2027, bringing current neuroscience research directly to teachers through interactive workshops led by UCLA scientists and educators.

Throughout the academic year, BRAINWAVE will offer workshops spanning sleep, learning and memory, brain development, neurodiversity, stress and mental health, attention and technology, autism and neurodevelopment, social neuroscience, brain health, reward and habits, and substance use and addiction.

These topics are especially timely for educators working with children and adolescents during important periods of brain development. From sleep, learning, and attention to stress, technology, neurodevelopment, social connection, and substance use, teachers encounter many of these issues in their classrooms every day.

Each BRAINWAVE program brings educators together with neuroscience researchers through expert-led discussions, hands-on science and research experiences, and collaborative activities that connect current brain science with the experiences of children and adolescents in schools.

Fall 2026

Brains in Rest

The Neuroscience of Sleep and Its Role in Learning, Behavior, and Development

Explore how sleep and circadian rhythms shape learning, memory, behavior, and brain development — and experience some of the ways scientists study sleep and the sleeping brain.

DateSaturday, October 17, 2026
Time9:00 AM–3:00 PM
LocationUCLA

Free professional development workshop for K–12 teachers · LAUSD salary point credit available for eligible participants upon completion

Registration is now open!

Register for Brains in Rest →
Winter 2027

Autism & the Neurodiverse Brain

Understanding Neurodevelopment, Individual Differences, and the Science of Autism

Explore current neuroscience of autism and neurodevelopment, individual differences in brain development, and how differences in brain function can shape learning, communication, behavior, and everyday experiences.

Program details coming soon.

More Programs Coming in 2027

Additional BRAINWAVE educator workshops exploring learning and memory, brain development, stress and mental health, attention and technology, social neuroscience, brain health, reward and habits, and substance use and addiction will be announced throughout the 2026–2027 academic year.

Stay Connected

New BRAINWAVE workshops will be announced throughout the academic year. Join our educator network to receive upcoming workshop dates, registration announcements, and new neuroscience education opportunities.

Join the BRAINWAVE Teacher Community
The story behind BRAINWAVE
Dr. Vidya Saravanapandian leading a BRAINWAVE workshop with educators
Working alongside educators to bring neuroscience into classrooms
Our Founding Story
Neuroscience isn't just for researchers in labs. It belongs in every classroom, in every community.
Dr. Vidya Saravanapandian
Founder and Director, BRAINWAVE
Director, Neuroscience Community Engagement & Public Education
UCLA Brain Research Institute

Born and raised in India, Vidya earned her PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA. Her own journey to neuroscience shaped a deep belief that understanding the brain should not be limited by where someone grows up or the resources available to them. She founded BRAINWAVE in 2024 to bring that knowledge beyond the laboratory and make neuroscience more accessible to educators, students, and communities.

What BRAINWAVE
stands for
BBringing
RResearch And
IInnovation in
NNeuroscience to
WWorkshops for
AAdvancing
VVisionary
EEducators
§ TEACHING
Inside the Workshop

Teaching & Learning Experience

Each BRAINWAVE workshop is immersive, hands-on, and deeply collaborative. Teachers don't just hear about neuroscience — they experience it through interactive sessions, real research from UCLA labs, and peer learning that translates directly back to their classrooms on Monday morning.

01

Neuroscience Foundations

Active UCLA researchers share their discoveries directly — covering topics from memory and sleep to learning, development, and mental health. Science made accessible, relevant, and inspiring.

02

Classroom Applications

Every session bridges research to practice. Teachers leave with evidence-based strategies, lesson frameworks, and classroom-ready activities they can use with any grade level or subject.

03

Interactive Learning

From lab tours and brain specimen handling to VR demos and collaborative lesson design, BRAINWAVE turns learning about the brain into an unforgettable, multi-sensory experience.

Instructor leading a neuroscience session with teachers
Small group discussion during BRAINWAVE workshop
BRAINWAVE teachers outside UCLA Neuroscience building
§ TEACHER NETWORK
Our Community

Classrooms Transformed Across Los Angeles

Every pin on this map is a school whose teacher has been trained in neuroscience by BRAINWAVE. Every teacher reaches ~40 students per year. This is what a movement looks like.

191+
Teachers Engaged
60+
Schools Represented
100%
Public Schools
K–12
All Grade Levels
Schools in Our Network
60+ schools across Los Angeles, spanning multiple grade levels.
23+
Elementary
Grades K–5
10+
Middle School
Grades 6–8
9+
High School
Grades 9–12
6+
Magnet & K–12
Multi-grade programs
Some schools span multiple grade levels.
§ WORKSHOPS
Workshop Highlights

Where the Learning Happens

A glimpse into how educators engage with neuroscience through BRAINWAVE workshops.

Teachers engaged in neuroscience lecture
BRAINWAVE workshop presentation

Learning Together

Exploring neuroscience concepts in interactive sessions — UCLA researchers bring their real discoveries into the room, making complex brain science accessible and immediately relevant to every educator.

Teachers trying VR headsets in neuroscience lab
Teachers gathered around brain specimens at BRAINWAVE workshop

Hands-On Exploration

Hands-on experiences that bring brain science to life — from VR technology and real brain specimens to cutting-edge imaging data, teachers engage directly with the tools of modern neuroscience.

Educator presenting neural communication concepts
Teachers collaborating during workshop

Collaboration & Community

Building a community of educators learning together — small group discussions, peer lesson design, and connections that extend well beyond the workshop into every classroom these teachers touch.

Next Workshop

Stay Tuned — More Coming Soon

Our next workshop date and topic will be announced here. Join the waitlist to be the first to know and secure your spot.

Join the BRAINWAVE Teacher Community
§ TEAM

UCLA Scientists Who Teach

BRAINWAVE brings together UCLA faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars, and educators who share their expertise with K–12 teachers and help translate current neuroscience into meaningful learning experiences.

§ FACULTY SPEAKERS
Expert Faculty Speakers
Featuring faculty from the UCLA Brain Research Institute

Learning from Leading Experts

Learning from leading experts in neuroscience and brain health — UCLA faculty who bring cutting-edge research directly into the BRAINWAVE classroom.

Dr. Christopher Colwell presenting at BRAINWAVE workshop
Dr. Christopher Colwell
Circadian Biologist · UCLA
Explores circadian rhythms and their role in brain health and neurodegenerative disease.
Dr. Gina Poe presenting at BRAINWAVE workshop
Dr. Gina Poe
Sleep Neuroscientist · UCLA
Studies how sleep supports memory, learning, and brain plasticity.
Dr. Ketema Paul presenting at BRAINWAVE workshop
Dr. Ketema Paul
Sleep Researcher · UCLA
Researches sleep and circadian rhythms and their impact on brain function.
Dr. Stephanie White presenting at BRAINWAVE workshop
Dr. Stephanie White
Neuroscientist · UCLA
Investigates how brain circuits support cognition, decision-making, and behavior.
§ PARTNERS
Supported By

BRAINWAVE is a UCLA initiative supported by the Brain Research Institute.

§ UCLA PARTNERSHIP
Our Institutional Home

Rooted in UCLA Research

BRAINWAVE is supported by the UCLA Brain Research Institute (BRI) — a leading neuroscience research institution. This partnership gives teachers direct access to active researchers, working labs, and the most current discoveries in brain science. It's what makes BRAINWAVE fundamentally different from any other professional development program.

The UCLA Brain Research Institute advances interdisciplinary research to understand the brain and improve human health. Through this connection, BRAINWAVE brings cutting-edge neuroscience insights into K–12 education.

Active Research Labs UCLA Postdoctoral Instructors Evidence-Based Curriculum LAUSD-Approved PD Credit
UCLA Brain Research Institute
Gonda Neuroscience & Genetics Research Center
1506 Gonda Building · UCLA Campus · Los Angeles, CA
Visit BRI BRAINWAVE Page
§ FAQ
Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Q Do I need to pay to participate in a BRAINWAVE workshop?

No — BRAINWAVE workshops are completely free for K–12 teachers. BRAINWAVE is currently a volunteer-driven initiative. We are deeply committed to making these workshops accessible to all teachers and are actively working to expand support to sustain and grow this effort.

Q I am not part of LAUSD. Can I still join?

Yes! While we prioritize under-resourced Los Angeles schools, BRAINWAVE welcomes K–12 teachers from any public school district across California. All teachers who are passionate about neuroscience are encouraged to join — we strive to include as many educators as our capacity allows.

Q Do I need a science or neuroscience background to attend?

Absolutely not. BRAINWAVE is designed for educators of all subjects and grade levels — from kindergarten teachers to high school history educators. Our UCLA instructors are experts at making complex brain science accessible, relatable, and immediately applicable to any classroom. Your curiosity and passion for students is the only prerequisite.

Q Will I receive professional development credit?

Yes. BRAINWAVE workshops are JSPCC-approved by LAUSD and count toward salary point credit for eligible teachers. Participation certificates are provided to all attendees. We work with participating school districts to ensure the time you invest translates into recognized professional development.

Q What happens after the workshop — is there ongoing support?

The workshop is just the beginning. BRAINWAVE alumni join our Educator Community Network — a growing community of trained teachers connected through monthly UCLA webinars, peer collaboration, a curated library of classroom-ready neuroscience activities, and direct ongoing access to our UCLA researcher team.

Q How do I register, and when is the next workshop?

The next BRAINWAVE workshop is scheduled for Saturday, October 17, 2026 — register directly at the October 17 registration form. To stay connected and receive announcements for future workshops, join the BRAINWAVE Teacher Community — it takes less than 5 minutes. Questions? Email [email protected].

Still have questions? We'd love to hear from you.

Contact Us
§ CTA

Ready to Bring Brain Science to Your Classroom?

Register your interest for our next BRAINWAVE workshop.
Free for K–12 teachers · LAUSD salary point credit · No neuroscience background required.

Join the BRAINWAVE Teacher Community UCLA Postdoc? Join as Instructor

Questions? Email [email protected] · A UCLA Initiative supported by the Brain Research Institute

Support BRAINWAVE

Help bring neuroscience beyond the laboratory and into classrooms and communities.

BRAINWAVE connects K–12 educators with neuroscientists to make current brain science accessible, relevant, and useful for the students they serve. Your support helps us expand educator workshops, develop hands-on neuroscience experiences and classroom-ready resources that teachers can bring back to their schools, and extend programming on sleep, learning, brain development, mental health, neurodiversity, technology, and other timely topics to more educators and communities.

By supporting educators, BRAINWAVE can reach far beyond a single workshop—bringing neuroscience into classrooms and helping more young people understand their brains, their development, and themselves.

Interested in supporting our work?