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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
Scientific collaboration during the Space Race
The spectre of the Cold War loomed over Rebecca Charbonneau’s childhood. Growing up in a Cuban American family in Miami, it was something she was aware of from an early age. “I didn’t know anyone whose family had not been affected by it,” she says. Living in Florida she was also very aware of space […]
Democratising global trade and investment
A new book by Gates Cambridge Scholar Todd Tucker describes the complex world of investor-state dispute settlement [ISDS] in an accessible way and looks at how global trade and investment can be democratised. Judge Knot, just published by Anthem Press, is the culmination of over five years of research and writing about one of the […]
Scholar is UK Alumni Awards regional finalist
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been selected as a regional finalist in the British Council’s Study UK Alumni Awards. Srilakshmi Raj [2007] was chosen as one of 63 regional finalists after winning a national award in the US in March. The prestigious international award celebrates UK higher education and the achievements of UK alumni all over the […]
‘Cognitive flexibility’ linked to EU referendum voting attitudes
A new study, led by a Gates Cambridge Scholar, suggests that the way our brains process everyday information helps to shape our ideological beliefs and political decision-making – including attitudes towards the UK’s 2016 EU Referendum. Scientists from the University of Cambridge combined objective cognitive tests with questionnaires designed to gauge social and political attitudes in […]
Gates Cambridge Class of 2018 announced
Ninety-two of the most academically exceptional and socially committed people from across the globe have been selected as Gates Cambridge Scholars – the University of Cambridge’s most prestigious international postgraduate scholarship. The new Scholars, who will take up their generous scholarships in the autumn, are a very diverse group, representing 28 nationalities. Forty three are […]
The devil in the detail
One of Maximilian Stammnitz’s best memories at Cambridge has been his encounter with Tasmanian devils on a field trip to Tasmania in 2016. “There is nothing more exciting than examining actual devils in the wild – they are truly majestic animals!” he says. A major paper, on which he is first author, is published today […]
Human drugs could treat transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils
Transmissible cancers are incredibly rare in nature, yet have arisen in Tasmanian devils on at least two separate occasions. A new research paper, on which Gates Cambridge Scholar Maximilian Stammnitz is first author, identifies key anti-cancer drugs which could be trialled as a treatment for these diseases, which are threatening Tasmanian devils with extinction. The […]
Gates Cambridge at the Hay Festival
Three Gates Cambridge Scholars are speaking at a prestigious literary festival in May. Ella McPherson [2004], who did a PhD in Social and Political Science and is currently Co-Director of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights at the University of Cambridge, and Sarah Nouwen [2005], Co-Deputy Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, are […]
The science of flavonoids
It has been established for some time that eating fruit and vegetables is good for your health and can protect people from a range of illnesses, including some forms of cancer. However, the way they do this is little understood. Vaithish Velazhahan’s research seeks to establish how flavonoids – a diverse group of phytonutrients (plant chemicals) found in […]
Global Scholars Symposium opens for applications
This year’s Global Scholars Symposium (GSS) will feature keynote addresses by the former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. The Symposium, which takes place from 11th to 13th May, has become an annual event ever since it was first set up by […]
