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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
Sugar tax and global health
A keen interest in the socio-economic determinants of health has driven Miriam Alvarado’s research work from high school through her university years, leading to stints working on projects in India, Ghana and Barbados. She is currently based in Barbados where she is focusing on the high prevalence of inactivity amongst women, which can lead to […]
Scholars: a vital world resource
Scholars from a huge diversity of subjects are a vital resource for a world as it faces an increasing number of traumatic shocks, former BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Bridget Kendall told the inaugural Gates Biennial at the weekend. Bridget Kendall is the first female Master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge’s first college. She spoke about the increasing […]
Gates Cambridge Provost elected president of FENS
Professor Barry Everitt, the Provost of Gates Cambridge, has been elected the new president of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies at the 10th FENS Forum of Neuroscience in Copenhagen. His term as president will run from 2016 -2018. FENS welcomed his presidency stating: “As a highly recognised and renowned neuroscientist, Barry Everitt has served FENS in […]
Building bridges to religious understanding
When he was a child, Mohammad Shomali met several religious leaders, including the Pope. The meetings came about because his parents ran a lot of interfaith dialogues between Muslims and Christians. “From a very young age I have had a passion for bringing people together from different faith groups,” he says. That passion has driven […]
Replanting reduces frog diversity in oil palm
The traditional replanting process associated with oil palm industry has a clear negative impact on frog diversity and should be more effectively managed, according to a new study led by a Gates Cambridge Scholar. One of the key characteristics of oil palm and other plantation crops is that they undergo a lifecycle in which the […]
How grackles have adapted to survive
The successful spread of the great-tailed grackle across North America may be down to individual birds’ ability to adapt their behaviour to new circumstances and environments, according to a new study. Great-tailed grackles originated in Central and South America, but moved into North America between 1880 and 2000, expanding their range north from Central America […]
Bridget Kendall to be keynote speaker at Biennial 2016
The BBC’s former Diplomatic Editor Bridget Kendall will be the keynote speaker at the inaugural Gates Cambridge Biennial event next week. The event, which takes place from 15-17 July at St. John’s College, will bring together 250 past, present and future Gates Cambridge Scholars. Attendees will represent more than 50 countries, all 31 Colleges, 65 […]
Manchuria and the story of modern China
Manchuria was a focus for Chinese, Russian and Japanese imperial rivalries for decades leading up to the Second World War, but the post-war period and its reintegration into China has been the subject of comparatively little research. For that reason Yevgen Sautin will be focusing his PhD in History on the region and specifically on […]
The Summer Before Everything
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has co-written a unique and thought-provoking verbatim play about the war in Ukraine which will debut in Cambridge in July. The Summer Before Everything is co-written by Bohdan Tokarskyi [2015], a Gates Scholar doing a PhD in Slavonic Studies. It is based on interviews with over 100 people across Ukraine. The […]
Bringing African voices to the table
Alice Musabende wants to give the people affected by war and genocide a voice in peacebuilding efforts. Too often, she says, their voices are not heard, their stories are not told and they are not able to contribute to discussions about how peacebuilding might happen. Her PhD in Politics and International Studies, which she will […]
