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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
First annual career symposium launched
Prominent Gates Cambridge alumni will be speaking about their experiences after Cambridge at the first annual Gates Cambridge Alumni Career Symposium in October.The Symposium will be held in the Gates Cambridge Common Room on 20 October and is open to all Scholars and Alumni.Speaking at the half-day events are:David Deitz [2006], who did an MPhil […]
A greener society
Anthony Lamb had spent most of his adult life studying science and working in finance when he decided to take time out of his finance job in 2010. He spent the next year or so reflecting on what he wanted to do. He loved the outdoors life and spent a month canoeing on his own […]
Redeveloped Scholars’ Room opened
The Gates Cambridge Scholars’ Common Room at the University Centre has played an integral part in creating a Gates Cambridge community for Scholars in residence. Generations of Scholars have used the room as a hub for a wide variety of activities, and enjoyed the sweeping views across the Mill Pond area. The room underwent a […]
Transition to democracy
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been awarded first prize for the best student contribution at the Historical Association of South Africa’s biennial conference. Danelle van Zyl-Hermann [2010] was awarded the prize for a paper she presented at the conference in Pretoria about a part of the PhD research she is conducting at Cambridge. The Historical […]
Intelligent life
Alison Greggor has been interested in the interaction between humans and animals from an early age. Whilst at high school she used to run along the trails outside her home town of Novato in California every day. “I would jog through grasslands and wetlands on the outskirts of the town. It was full of wildlife, […]
A healthier heart
A person’s lack of fitness is a key indicator of their likelihood of dying from heart disease independent of whether they suffer from blocked arteries, according to a study which has been co-authored by a Gates Cambridge alumnus. The study, Exercise capacity is the strongest predictor of mortality in patients with peripheral arterial disease, is […]
Philanthropists urged to follow Bill Gates example
Educational philanthropy is now a core part of university funding, but universities need to actively seek out philanthropists who will allow them total freedom over how they use the money, according to the Provost of the Gates Cambridge Trust. In a film released by Blue Skies magazine, Professor Robert Lethbridge says the media has underplayed […]
Bible stories
How has the history of Christianity impacted on our intellectual culture? Zack Guiliano will be studying the critical period during Charlemagne’s reign and how it affected European legal reform, ideas about morality, and the interpretation of Christian Scripture. “Many people regard Charlemagne as key. A lot of his ecclesiastical reforms were so influential,” says Zack. […]
Combatting neglected tropical diseases
A US government programme to incentivise companies to research and develop treatments for neglected tropical diseases [NTD] which affect over 1 billion people could be more widely adopted if three key issues are addressed, according to a research paper just published. The paper, The Impact of the U.S. Priority Review Voucher on Private-Sector Investment in […]
