Meet the Founder

Dr. Manuella Oliveira Yassa is a neuroscientist and educator whose work focuses on how people learn, experience, and engage with brain science. She specializes in neuroscience education and public engagement, designing programs and experiences that bring communities into direct contact with scientific discovery.

She earned her BA in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University and her PhD in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine, where her work focused on neuroscience education and public engagement through a social-ecological lens.

Dr. Oliveira Yassa serves as Director of Outreach and Education at the University of California, Irvine Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and leads the NeuroEngage Lab, where her research examines how people learn neuroscience, how engagement experiences shape understanding and identity, and how to design more effective, participatory science education.

She also directs the USA Brain Bee and founded UCI Brain Camp and the Brain Explorer Academy — nationally recognized programs that bring students into hands-on neuroscience learning and direct interaction with scientists.

Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and private philanthropy, including the Dana Foundation. In 2025, she received the Society for Neuroscience Science Educator Award for her contributions to neuroscience education and public engagement.

The Brain Museum grows out of this combined research and practice — and her long-standing commitment to making brain science accessible, participatory, and woven into everyday public life.