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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 economic models for developing countries
The former Deputy Minister of Planning in Pakistan will talk about his leading role in creating the country’s Economic Growth Framework at an event on Thursday. Nadeem Ul Haque is lead author of the Framework. He is also former Vice Chancellor of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, a former IMF Resident Country Representative for Egypt and Sri Lanka and […]
What birds’ attitudes to litter tell us about their adaptability
Urban birds are less afraid of litter than their country cousins, according to a new study, which suggests they may learn that litter in cities is not dangerous. The research could help birds to adapt to urban settings better, helping them to survive increasing human encroachment on their habitats. The study* led by Gates Cambridge Scholar […]
Learning with a purpose
When Nikolas Oktaba signed up for a video workshop earlier this year he was keen to learn the kind of skills that would help him meet his ambition to take his research on sexuality in the ancient world to a wider audience. The one-day workshop, run by the Gates Cambridge Scholars’ Council’s Learning for Purpose […]
A passion for public engagement
“Public engagement is one of the most important things academics can do. We get so much funding for our research – if we don’t give back and explain what we are doing, our work loses its value,” said Niraj (Nij) Lal in 2010 when he was just one year into his PhD in Physics at […]
What drives technology?
A Gates Cambridge Scholar will be talking about her research on bonobos and chimpanzees at the prestigious Hay Festival next week. Kathelijne Koops will be speaking at the international literary festival at 2.30pm on 2 June. Her session, Chimps, bonobos, humans, will address what chimpanzees and bonobos can tell us about our extraordinarily complex human […]
Arts research into practice
A Gates Cambridge Scholar is co-organising a series of arts-based research performances with the aim of breaking down divisions between arts research and practice. Afrodita Nikolova [2014] is co-organiser of the Arts Kaleidoscope event with Ana Mocanu and Prita Kalyansundaram at the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education. The event, entitled Mind the Gap: Bridging […]
Africa mentoring programme heads for Ghana
A Gates Cambridge Scholar coordinated a scholarship information session in Ghana last month for postgraduate students interested in applying to the University of Cambridge. Dr Kofi Boakye [2006], who did a PhD in Criminology with the support of a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, is director of the Oxbridge Africa Mentorship Programme which held the event at […]
Big data for a better world
How can you harness the power of big data to improve health outcomes? Mohammad Ghassemi’s research applies artificial intelligence to problems in medicine. Together with his collaborators, he has collected the world’s largest collection of electroencephalograms from patients who have been in a coma following a cardiac arrest. It includes data from over 1,000 patients […]
Science workshop aims to boost agriculture research in Africa
A not-for-profit organisation set up by a Gates Cambridge Scholar is holding a flagship training workshop for agricultural scientists and lecturers from African universities in Cambridge this autumn. Carol Ibe [2015], who is doing a PhD in Plant Sciences, set up the JR Biotek Foundation before starting her PhD. Its first workshop was held in […]
Two Scholars share Bill Gates Sr prize
Two Gates Cambridge Scholars shared this year’s fourth Bill Gates Sr Award for in recognition of their outstanding research and social leadership. The Bill Gates Sr Prize was established by the Gates Cambridge Trustees in June 2012 in recognition of Bill Gates Sr’s role in establishing the Gates Cambridge Scholarships, over a decade of service […]
