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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
Gates scholar spurs entrepreneurship in Rwanda
A Gates scholar is spearheading an initiative to create an Entrepreneurship Week in Rwanda to help lift the country out of poverty. Julia Fan Li [2008], who is studying for a PhD in Engineering, is one of a team of undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Cambridge who are working with 100 students […]
Gates scholar interviewed on BBC Radio Four
Gates scholar Ivy Wong was interviewed this week on BBC Radio Four about her research into children’s colour preferences and gender identity. Ivy [2009], who is studying for a PhD in Social and Developmental Psychology, was interviewed for a programme called ‘Fighting the Power of Pink’. She said her research was the result of previous […]
Global scholars symposium takes place this weekend
Former world leaders, leading academics and social entrepreneurs are to take part in a major conference of overseas scholars initiated by Gates Cambridge scholars. The Global Scholars’ Symposium (GSS) takes place at Rhodes House, Oxford, on 6 and 7 May and speakers include Professor Joseph Nye, former Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at […]
BBC Director-General to give Gates Distinguished Lecture
BBC supremo Mark Thompson is to give a public lecture this week on the future of broadcasting. Thompson, the Director-General of the BBC, will give a Gates Distinguished Lecture on 4 May. He has a long career in broadcasting, having been head of the BBC since 2004 and previously chief executive of Channel 4. Prior to […]
Gates scholar meets the Queen
Gates scholar Rajna Golubic was one of 10 students chosen to attend a lunch with the Queen as part of St John’s College’s quincentenary celebrations this week. Rajna [2008] from Croatia was invited to attend a lunch in the College’s Senior Combination Room with The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on Wednesday, two days […]
Gates scholar comments on Playstation hack
Online security expert Joseph Bonneau [2008] has called for new legislation to make companies who lose online passwords liable for any resulting harm in the light of the huge data theft of Sony Playstation users’ details. Joseph, a Gates scholar and former chair of the Gates Scholars Council, told the Telegraph that statements from Sony […]
Gates alumna wins 1m euro award
Gates alumna Dr Jana Zaumseil has been awarded a one million Euro award for her work on nanoelectronics. Jana [2003], at 32, was one of the youngest ever recipients of the Alfried Krupp Prize for Young Professors. The Award has been given annually since 1986 by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach foundation to […]
Sir Richard Dearlove to speak on ‘Arab Awakening’
Sir Richard Dearlove will give a Gates Distinguished Lecture this week on ‘The Arab Awakening – reflections on its causes, directions and implications’. Sir Richard, who has been Master of Pembroke College since 2004 and was head of MI6 from 1999 to 2004, gave a talk earlier this year in which he credited texting and the […]
Gates alumna associate produces major documentary
A Gates alumna has associate produced a US documentary on the theme of forgiveness with an Oscar-nominated director. Rebecca Wexler [2005] associate produced the PBS film “Forgiveness: A Time to Love & a Time to Hate”, a film about forgiveness and transitional justice. It is directed by Oscar-nominated Helen Whitney and was broadcast nationwide on […]
Kevin Grove
Kevin Grove grew up working on a family farm outside a small village in Montana. He says he would sit on his harvest truck aged nine or 10 and read the National Geographic magazine or biographies from school or the barber’s shop while the harvesting machine was going round the field. Many of the books […]
