News
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
- Share
Latest News
Peace through gender equality
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has co-authored a book on how best to engage more men in gender equality. William McInerney is co-author of Das Buch, Das Jeder Mann Lesen Sollte: […]
Telling the story of climate science
How do you tell the story of climate science and why does it matter? These are questions that Sarah Dry [2003] is grappling with. In her work on the history […]
Why we must respond differently to the next pandemic
“Lani, are you guys still being paid?” I asked. Lani’s omnipresent smile froze on her face. Her eyes flicked back and forth as though scanning the empty room for people […]
From space exploration to food security: Gates Cambridge at the Cambridge Festival
Over a dozen Gates Cambridge scholars will showcase their research at this year’s Cambridge Festival. The Festival, which runs from 17th March to 2nd April, is one of the largest festivals […]
Identification of disease-causing proteins could prompt new diabetes treatments
New research led by a Gates Cambridge Scholar has identified hundreds of proteins that might contribute to the onset of common, chronic metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, and […]
Social media posts around solar geoengineering ‘spill over’ into conspiracy theories
Researchers from the University of Cambridge, led by Gates Cambridge Scholar Ramit Debnath, have analysed more than 800,000 tweets and found that negative emotions expressed about geoengineering – the idea […]
New translation for Murakami short story
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has translated a short story by leading Japanese author Murakami Haruki into English. Gitte Marianne Hansen [2009] has translated ‘Kanō Kureta’ [加納クレタ], the only one of Murakami’s four […]
First 2023 cohort of Gates Cambridge Scholars announced
Twenty three of the most academically outstanding and socially committed US citizens have been selected to be part of the 2023 class of Gates Cambridge Scholars at the University of […]
Films entrench gender inequality in AI
Cinematic depictions of the scientists behind artificial intelligence over the last century are so heavily skewed towards men that a dangerous “cultural stereotype” has been established – one that may […]
Rare genetic disease may protect Ashkenazi Jews against TB
Scientists may have solved the question of why Ashkenazi Jews are significantly more susceptible to a rare genetic disorder known as Gaucher disease – and the answer may help settle […]
