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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
An intercultural encounter
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has performed at the first International Conference on Live Coding which is opening up new avenues for poetry and poetry performances. Afrodita Nikolova, a poetry slam champion from Macedonia who is doing a PhD in Education, collaborated with Sam Aaron, a computer scientist and live coder who developed the popular Sonic […]
Transitional justice education
Young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina should no longer be prevented from talking openly about the recent war and from taking up leadership roles to drive positive social and political change, a Gates Cambridge Scholar told an international meeting in Germany last month. Sara Clarke-Habibi (2012) was selected from among 234 early career researchers to […]
Healthy eating app
Can an app make people eat more healthily? Sarah Mummah has been working on a mobile app that promotes the eating of vegetables and her pilot test results, which she presented at an international conference in Scotland in June, show significant success. Sarah has long been interested in healthy eating and, while an undergraduate, set […]
Chimpanzee cultures
For centuries it has been thought that culture is what distinguishes humans from other animals, but over the past decade this idea has been repeatedly called into question. Cultural variation has been identified in a growing number of species in recent years, ranging from primates to cetaceans. Chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, show the most […]
Exploring research opportunities in the Falklands
A Gates Cambridge alumna who led a Pan-American scientific delegation to the Falkland Islands earlier this year has co-published an article in a prestigious journal reflecting on the experience. Dr Lindsay Chura, a senior policy advisor at the British embassy in Washington, DC, led the delegation to the Falklands in January on behalf of the […]
From undocumented and afraid to social justice advocate
Carlos Adolfo Gonzalez Sierra understands many of the issues faced by Dominican immigrants to the US because he has lived them. For years he had no legal status in the country and, despite working round the clock, very nearly missed out on higher education. It was through sheer hard work, a strong support system and […]
Filming the last generations of Kiribati
A Gates Cambridge Scholar is about to start making a film about the proud but drowning nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. William Marks [2013] and film-maker Micah Baskir set off at the end of July to begin filming on their documentary Rising Tides: The Last Generations of Kiribati. Kiribati is a nation that […]
Clinical trials for cancer treatment
An emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on developing orphan oncology compounds which was co-founded by Gates Cambridge Alumnus Chandler Robinson has joined forces with cancer research organisations in the UK to take an experimental antibody treatment into clinical trials with cancer patients. Monopar Therapeutics LLC has reached an agreement with Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research […]
A social enterprise for Gaza
A Gates Cambridge Scholar is taking part in a business incubation session this week to support her plan to set up a remote working agency in Gaza. Mona Jebril [2012] is taking part in Ignite this week – an intensive, one-week training programme for aspiring entrepreneurs which is run by the Judge Business School at […]
Women tell their stories
The media is full of negative stories about the issues facing women, but a new website plans to give women from around the globe the space to tell their own stories and inspire others to overcome those challenges. We Are Sister Stories launched on 2nd July and is the brainchild of two Gates Cambridge Scholars. It is […]
