News

Benjamin Cocanougher

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

Latest News

Inside the Laurent Gbagbo trial

Lesson learned: always check the microphones. Just after the start of the Hague trial of former Côte d’Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo, prosecutor Eric MacDonald accidentally revealed the names of four […]

Gates Cambridge to host first Biennial

A major gathering of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others takes place this summer at the inaugural Gates Cambridge Biennial. The opening keynote speaker at the event, which […]

Day of Service

Gates Cambridge Scholars will be holding a Day of Service with local charities in Cambridge in March to give back to their local community. On 5th March Scholars will be working […]

Scholars tell their stories

Three Gates Cambridge Scholars will talk about personal experiences ranging from living with Syrian refugees in Turkey to growing up as a Muslim in the US at a session this […]

A different perspective on healthcare

Eva-Maria Hempe has not been afraid to take risks or change direction in order to pursue her passion to drive change. As a school student she convinced her parents to […]

Improvisation – the art of being spontaneous

Imagine that you are stranded on a deserted island and you are allowed to bring one object with you that can help you survive. What would you choose and why […]

New US Scholars selected for Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Thirty-five of the most academically brilliant and socially committed young people in the US have been selected for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship at the University of Cambridge. The US Scholars, […]

Renaissance woman?

When she was a child, Gillean Denny’s father would give her and her siblings spiral bound notebooks to write stories over the summer holidays. They got one cent for each […]

Getting girls into STEM

Gates Cambridge Scholars are running a ‘Promoting Girls in STEM’ event in the local Cambridge community in March. The event will involve girls aged five to 14 from a local group […]

How are priorities identified for global heath?

Three Gates Cambridge Scholars will lead an interactive discussion on how priorities are identified and set for global health issues at an Internal Symposium on Thursday. Alex Wood [2015], Blake Thomson [2015] […]