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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
Hormonal imbalance
Although no-one in her immediate family is in medicine, Marina Minic [2009] grew up with the desire to help people through science. Her work with researchers at Cambridge on a rare life-threatening form of hypoglycaemia has already brought international headlines in the medical press and she hopes to continue with it to discover new treatments […]
Gates alumna runs in Olympic trials
Gates alumna Amanda Scott took part in the he Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston at the weekend. Amanda [2009] was one of around 150 of the 220 women to finish the trials. She said: “I felt an excruciating pain in my foot during the trials and I was so close to not finishing, but I […]
Scholar features on BBC for Cambodia research
A year ago Mary Beth Day [2009] spent several weeks being driven around Cambodia’s ancient city of Angkor in a tuk tuk, a rickshaw-like vehicle, collecting sediment samples. Her work was part of a research project which drew headlines in the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor for its finding that drought may […]
Drought could have led to ruin of Angkor
The ancient Khmer city of Angkor, site of the world famous Angkor Wat temple, could have collapsed in part due to drought, according to new research carried out by a Gates scholar. Mary Beth Day [2009], a paleolimnologist who is doing a PhD in Earth Sciences, is one of a team of researchers who have […]
Untangling the complexities of US foreign policy
Jeremiah Schwarz [2008] grew up with a strong sense of public service which has led him not only to a distinguished naval career, but research into the world of diplomatic decision-making in highly complex situations. Born and raised in Queens, New York, his mother was a teacher and his father managed and designed homeless shelters […]
Perfecting the surgical art
How do you know when a surgeon has perfected a new procedure or when they are still learning? It’s an issue that is vital to surgical success rates, yet Gates scholar Olympia Papachristofi [2011] says there is no hard data on the subject. She plans to provide that data. Olympia has just started her PhD […]
Memory like a fish?
Heard the one about the goldfish with the short memory? It is a commonly held belief that fish are the polar opposites to elephants. They always forget. Alex Vail [2010] is, however, providing evidence this is not the case. He has observed that fish remember people, and is conducting field and aquaria research to show […]
Matt Varilek stands for election to Congress
Gates alumnus Matt Varilek has just announced that he is running for election to the US House of Representatives. Matt is running on a Democrat ticket against Republican Kristi Noem in the 2012 race for South Dakota’s US seat. He released an online video this week and says he has been thinking about standing since […]
Why did all the money go?
Michael Marin is well aware his life could have taken a very different path. Brought up by a single mother who was working around the clock to pay the bills, he fell far behind in his reading by the age of 10. His teacher hadn’t noticed and initially thought he must have a learning difficulty. […]
Gates scholar appears on leading current affairs programme
Gates scholar Michael Marin appeared on Canada’s leading current affairs programme this week to debate the link between the knowledge economy and rising inequality. Marin [2011] appeared yesterday on The Agenda with Steve Paikin. His research at Cambridge, where he is doing an LLM in Law, is looking at ways to explain why the corporate […]
