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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
Study investigates role of motion monitoring in predicting brain injury outcomes
New research on patients with severe brain injury has found that motion monitoring may be able to provide valuable diagnostic and prognostic information, leading to improved ICU care. The study, “Decoding accelerometry for classification and prediction of critically ill patients with severe brain injury”, led by Gates Cambridge Scholar Shubhayu Bhattacharyay, is published today in Nature’s […]
Scholar wins prestigious MLA award
Gates Cambridge Scholar Anna Kathryn Kendrick has won the 31st annual Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize for an outstanding book published in English or Spanish in the field of Latin American and Spanish literatures and cultures from the Modern Language Association of America. Anna [2011], who did her PhD in Spanish at the University of Cambridge […]
Scholars address sustainability at internal symposium
Five Gates Cambridge Scholars will take part in an internal symposium this week, discussing research on sustainability issues ranging from legal avenues to tackle the climate crisis to educational resilience. Each scholar will outline their research at the symposium on 1st December. They are: Jillian Sprenger [2021], who is doing an MPhil in Environmental Policy, […]
‘Heritage is not just about monuments’
Heritage studies tend to be based on Western models and case studies, with a lot of emphasis on monuments and tangible artefacts. “That’s quite a Western lens,” says Stanley Onyemechalu, who has just started his PhD at Cambridge. “I argue that Archaeology in a lot of the global north is obsessed with material things, but […]
New model developed for understanding biomolecular condensates
Our planet contains an outstandingly diverse population of species, from plants and animals, to microbes and viruses. Yet not all species are found everywhere, but rather, smaller subsets of them occupy different geographical regions, creating a wide-range of co-existing microenvironments that thrive under different climates and function in unique ways. The same can be said […]
Scholars win White House Fellowship
Two Gates Cambridge Scholars have won prestigious White House Fellowships meaning they will work full time for White House staff, Cabinet Secretaries and other senior government officials for a year. Tom Barron and Victoria Herrmann are among the 19 Fellows on the programme, which was set up by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 with […]
Report highlights healthcare challenges in Gaza
Patients and carers seeking to access the healthcare system in Gaza are confronted with severe shortages of drugs and equipment and constant threats to their physical safety as well as a lack of organisational transparency and accountability, according to an important new report. “The Political Economy of Health in the Gaza Strip (Occupied Palestinian Territory)” […]
New method for studying role of TEs in genetic changes
A new study reports a novel technique for studying the development of transposable elements in genetic information which can lead to genetic diseases and cancer. The study, ‘Locus-specific expression of transposable elements in single cells with CELLO-seq’, is published in Nature Biotechnology. Lead author is Rebecca Berrens [2012]. It addresses the role of transposable elements [TEs] and […]
Blast off for scholar as she heads into space
Gates Cambridge Alumna Kayla Barron is among four astronauts who will lifted off on 10th November on a journey towards the International Space Station for a six-month science mission. The four astronauts blasted off on the SpaceX Crew Dragon and will dock to the space station. This is the third crew rotation mission with astronauts […]
Using data to make a difference
Alexandra Mannerings set up her data analytics business Merakinos in February, but her ambition is much bigger than simply running a consultancy. She wants to help small businesses and non profit organisations increase their impact by helping them harness the power of data, something many often can’t afford to do. Her aim is to set […]
