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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
Rethinking Classics
The vibrancy of Classics lies in part in how it can be used to rethink modern political issues. Yung In Chae’s research seeks to link the ancient and modern world to explore themes such as feminism and today’s political currents. To that end she is co-organising a panel debate in May on Classics and political […]
How climate change affects archaeological research
A Gates Cambridge Scholar is co-organising a student-led conference to look at the impact of current climate change on archaeological research. Margaret Comer and fellow Archaeology PhD students Rebecca Haboucha and Eva Meharry are organising ‘Modern Climate Change and the Practice of Archaeology’, which takes place at Jesus College, Cambridge, from 7-8 April. The conference is […]
Antimicrobial resistance: a cause for collaboration
The world is at a crossroads with regard to the threat represented by antimicrobial resistance [AMR], which in the long term could kill more people than climate change, the Chief Medical Officer for England warned in this year’s Gates Cambridge Annual Lecture. Speaking on Tuesday at St John’s College, Professor Dame Sally Davies said a […]
Stigma of crime affects later generations
Children of people with criminal records are significantly more likely to offend themselves and more likely to reoffend due to the stigma they face, according to a new study. The study, Labeling and Intergenerational Transmission of Crime: the Interaction between Criminal Justice Intervention and a Convicted Parent, is the first in 25 years to investigate […]
Exploring the stories of migrant medical workers
A Gates Cambridge Alumna has just published the first book-length ethnography of migrant medical workers in contemporary Southeast Asia. Megha Amrith’s book, Caring for strangers: Filipino medical workers in Asia, tells the personal stories of Filipino medical workers living and working in Singapore. It tracks them from Manila’s nursing schools, where they dream of glamorous, […]
The politics of justice
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has taken part in a podcast discussion on the future of the International Criminal Court. Georgiana Epure took part in the Declarations: The Human Rights Podcast last week. The podcast is a new project of the Centre for Governance and Human Rights Student Group at the University of Cambridge. Georgiana [2016] […]
Religion vs rights
The issue of minority rights in India has come more to the fore following the victory of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP. Sagnik Dutta [2016] has long been interested in the interaction between minority rights and the law, having spent several years working as a journalist in India covering the Supreme Court and the Muslim […]
Scholar plans hike for conservation charity
A Gates Cambridge alumna is planning a marathon six-month, 2,600 mile walk from the Mexican to the Canadian border to raise money for a conservation charity. Dakota Spear, who did an MPhil in Zoology, will be doing a “thru-hike” of the Pacific Crest Trail with a friend starting this April. Their aim is to raise […]
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 […]
