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Benjamin Cocanougher
- Alumni
- United States
- 2016 PhD Zoology
- St Catharine's College
I grew up catching praying mantises and damselflies in rural Kentucky. As an undergraduate at Centre College, I majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; I spent my summers taking care of sick children at the Center for Courageous Kids and doing research in organic chemistry and neuroscience. I matriculated directly to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and completed my first three years of medical school. I then moved to Janelia Research Campus as a HHMI Medical Research Fellow; there I studied the neural and genetic bases of behavior. As a PhD student in Zoology, I will study adaptive behavior. All animals integrate information about past experience into future decisions; this is the basis of learning and memory. I am proposing to write a specific memory and read the memory trace in the brain. I will use the fruit fly as a model organism. By understanding mechanisms of memory storage, we can begin to investigate changes in memory formation in disease; this may allow us to develop rational therapies for disorders of memory formation, including autism and Alzheimer’s disease. After completing my PhD, I will return to finish my last year of medical school and pursue a career as a child neurologist and neuroscientist, using my lab to better understand the patients I see in clinic.
Previous Education
Centre College
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Latest News
Australia-UK relations under the spotlight
The British High Commissioner to Australia hosted a meeting with Australian and New Zealand Gates Scholars Elect and Alumni earlier this month on relations between Australia and the UK in the 21st century. The meeting in the Old Government House at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, on 16 August. After a brief […]
Testing the theory of gravity
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been awarded a prestigious prize by her department for the best graduate student paper of 2013 on research which allows the closest ever look at supermassive black holes and which could ultimately be used to test our theory of gravity. Erin Kara [2011], who is doing a PhD in Astronomy, […]
Sustainable energy
Finding a workable renewable energy solution is a pressing issue for countries like South Africa which are facing urgent development challenges. Although Nicholas Rice is currently working on the fundamental science needed to address the issue, he hopes that his MPhil at Cambridge, which he begins in the autumn, will allow him to look at […]
Dante and the history of literary criticism
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has contributed to a forthcoming book which examines how Dante commentaries have contributed to the advancement of literary criticism. Interpreting Dante: Essays on the Traditions of Dante Commentary, co-edited by Paola Nasti and Claudia Rossignoli, gathers essays by prominent scholars of the Dante commentary tradition to discuss the significance of this […]
Taking drugs the wrong way
The study, just published in the European Heart Journal, was led by Gates Cambridge Scholar Dr Rajiv Chowdhury [2009] and Gates Cambridge Alumnus Dr Hassan Khan [2009]. Based on worldwide participant data from ~2 Million individuals, the study showed that 40% of people do not adhere adequately to cardiovascular medications and that this applies to […]
Talking to Mau Mau women
Despite worldwide publicity about the treatment of the Mau Mau by the British following the recent high court compensation case, women’s involvement in the rebellion against the colonial government is poorly understood, says Gates Scholar Elect Katherine Bruce-Lockhart. Her research, which will draw on oral history, aims to shed more light on the way women […]
Breastfeeding may reduce risk of Alzheimer’s
Mothers who breastfeed their children may have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease, with longer periods of breastfeeding also lowering the overall risk, according to a new study led by a Gates Cambridge alumna. The report, newly published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, suggests that the link may be to do with certain […]
Democracy in practice
What is the relationship between political parties and African voters and how does this affect democracy? Zenobia Ismail has worked on issues relating to governance and democracy in Africa for several years as a former manager of Afrobarometer which conducts surveys across sub-Saharan Africa. She is now about to begin a PhD in Politics and […]
Alumnus wins cybersecurity award
A Gates Cambridge alumnus has been awarded the prestigious National Security Agency Award for Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper of 2012 for research he conducted for his PhD. Joseph Bonneau’s winning paper is entitled “The Science of Guessing: Analysing an Anonymised Corpus of 70 Million Passwords”. The NSA, the central producer and manager of signals intelligence […]
Tackling toxoplasmosis
Bo Shiun Lai experienced something most scientists take years to achieve – publication of his research in a leading journal – when he was still an undergraduate. His research on toxoplasmosis was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. He was nominated for the Cozzarelli Prize, a national award for scientific excellence […]
