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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
Putting genetic variation in context
Srilakshmi Raj was recently name one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Healthcare in recognition of the potential impact of her research into genetic variation in different population groups. The award means she becomes part of a new network of young leaders making a difference in healthcare. “Like Gates Cambridge it means I get to […]
New US Gates Cambridge Scholars announced
Thirty-five of the most academically outstanding and socially committed US citizens have been selected to be part of the 2017 class of Gates Cambridge Scholars at the University of Cambridge. The US Scholars-elect, who will take up their awards this October, are from 34 universities, including three which have never before had a Gates Cambridge […]
From text to textiles
Fashion is not traditionally seen as the kind of industry associated with social impact and making a difference, but Paula Rosine [Zine] Long believes that this is changing. Her experience in fashion and her interest in social impact, in part a result of her time as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, has led her to work […]
Four scholars to speak at internal symposium
Four Gates Cambridge Scholars will speak at an internal symposium next week on subjects ranging from Disney utopias and cell biology to curbing mass atrocities in the Central African Republic. The symposium takes place from 7.30-9.30pm on 8th February in the Gates Scholars Common Room. The speakers are: Eddie Cano Gámez [2016], who is doing […]
Chief Medical Officer to give Annual Lecture
England’s Chief Medical Officer will give this year’s Gates Cambridge Annual Lecture on the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Professor Dame Sally Davies’s lecture, Antimicrobial resistance: a cause for collaboration, will be delivered on March 7th. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism to stop an antimicrobial, such as an antibiotic, from working […]
The Stone Age connection
Researchers working on ancient DNA extracted from human remains interred almost 8,000 years ago in a cave in the Russian Far East have found that the genetic make-up of certain modern East Asian populations closely resemble that of their hunter-gatherer ancestors. The study, whose lead author is Gates Cambridge Scholar Veronika Siska, is published in the […]
Alumni to hold migration forum in Budapest
Gates Cambridge Alumni are holding their first Eastern European forum on the topic of migration in Europe in March. The Forum on Migration, to be held at the Central European University in Budapest on 18th March, will discuss how Alumni and current scholars can assist refugee integration. Those taking part include human rights activists Andrea […]
Composing for a cause
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has co-written and co-produced a song to raise awareness and funds for refugees, which features Grammy Award-winners singer Gregory Porter, rapper Common, and trumpeter Keyon Harrold. Andrea Pizziconi [2003] co-wrote and co-produced the song alongside Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Keyon Harrold, called Running (Refugee Song), also featuring Gregory Porter, Common. The proceeds […]
International civil servant, global nomad & policy activist
Harum Mukhayer [2016] has spent the last eight years as a specialist in international environmental and natural resources law. She has advised governments in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia on the design and implementation of natural resources laws and policies that better serve the poor. She now wants to explore the wider issues raised further […]
Opera for children
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has published a children’s book on opera to encourage a new generation to enjoy the genre. José Izquierdo wrote the book, Las Aventuras del Hombre Pajaro. Cinco Operas Contadas a los Ninos, after he was approached by the Opera House in Chile [Teatro Municipal de Santiago] to come up with a way […]
