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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
How extreme weather affects forests
Aland Chan [2019] has been fascinated by plants since childhood, when he spent his weekends hiking in Hong Kong, taking photographs of wildlife. His parents encouraged that passion, sending him to a school with did the International Baccalaureate and set less homework than the average school precisely so that he could develop his outside interests. […]
Zero tolerance on the US-Mexico border
My first experience witnessing immigration court proceedings inside a detention facility was on the US-Mexico border. It was July 2018 and the family separation crisis was at its peak. Because the US government was not forthcoming with information, a network of non-profit organisations had come together to help reunite separated families. After taking a seat […]
Promoting access to audiovisual media at the UN
A Gates Cambridge Alumnus chaired a meeting at the United Nations on promoting accessibility in audio visual media in Geneva this week. Pradipta Biswas [2006] who is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing of the Indian Institute of Science, chaired the International Telecommunications Union meeting meeting on 6th June. Pradipta is co-chair of the Intersector Rapporteur Group […]
Energy bills of India’s poorest city dwellers set to rise
The household energy bills of India’s poorest city dwellers could rise, posing an energy security threat to the country because of a series of factors which lead to greater usage of electrical appliances, according to a new study. The study from the University of Cambridge is led by Gates Cambridge Scholar Ramit Debnath. It explores […]
Prestigious health appointment for Gates Cambridge Alumna
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been appointed a member of the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr Brianne Kent will be one of four new members of the Council of the CIHR, Canada’s health research investment agency. The announcement was made this week by Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health. The Council helps to shape health […]
Woo named assistant conductor of prestigious orchestra
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been appointed assistant conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Naomi Woo will begin her tenure with the WSO at the start of the 2019-2020 season. The WSO says her interdisciplinary approach to performance and scholarship “has captivated audiences in Canada, the United States, and Europe”. Naomi [2014] has performed as a […]
First evidence of crab fishing by chimpanzees
The first evidence of chimpanzees fishing for and eating crabs is presented in a new study published today. The study by Gates Cambridge Alumna Kathelijne Koops [2006] is published in the Journal of Human Evolution. It is the first time a non-human ape has been shown habitually catching and consuming aquatic fauna such as crabs and fish. Previous research suggests […]
Transforming music education
Collin Edouard wants to change music education and make it more inclusive, to challenge the received idea that western classical music is the highest form of music and that other cultural forms are somehow of lesser value. Collin [2019], who begins a Masters in Music [MMus] in the autumn, has recently returned from Kampala where he […]
Award for food history magazine
A magazine on the history of food edited by a Gates Cambridge Scholar has just been named Publication of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. The award for Emelyn Rude’s magazine Eaten is part of the annual food writing and cookbook awards presented by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. The group itself was founded in 1978 […]
Applying a gender lens to climate change
Reetika Subramanian’s research into the impact of climate change on gender relations will see her embedded among a group of female labourers who are forced to leave their village annually as a result of the increasing number of severe droughts in western India. The subject brings together Reetika’s interest in story-telling, an interest linked to […]
