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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
Planning for inequality
Adam Cowden’s interest in the multi-dimensional nature of social inequality stems in large part from his own family background. He is the oldest of 11 children, five of whom were adopted from inner city Chicago neighbourhoods. Adam was a teenager when his first adopted sibling joined the family. Originally his parents planned on adopting only […]
US congressional delegation on dementia comes to Cambridge
A US Congressional delegation focused on ageing and dementia policy visited the University of Cambridge this week to hear about UK research into one of the biggest healthcare challenges facing both the UK and US. The delegation was timed to build on the momentum generated by the G8 Dementia Summit, which took place in London […]
A democratic education
Laura Marcus was a political activist at high school and got suspended at one point for organising a protest against the Iraq war. The experience pitched her against the school authorities. However, since leaving she has been working at a remote college where students are fully involved in the decision-making and planning process. Now she […]
New evidence raises questions about fatty acids
A new study raises questions about current guidelines which generally restrict the consumption of saturated fats and encourage consumption of polyunsaturated fats to prevent heart disease. The research was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. An international research collaboration led by the University of Cambridge analysed existing cohort studies and randomised trials on […]
From ancient to modern
Lizzie Presser studied the ancient world at university. It’s perhaps an unusual background for someone setting up an influential online news service on the present-day problems in north-east Thailand. But just days after graduating in classics from Princeton, Lizzie headed to Thailand and within months had started filing reports on growing and under-reported protests in […]
The legacy of forced resettlement
As the world’s leading cities compete to host international events, what often gets lost in all the celebrations is the impact on local residents, particularly the poorest of those residents. In several host countries, whole communities of people have been relocated to present a “modern” image to tourists and TV viewers. Kavita Ramakrishnan [2009] is […]
Climate change policies in California lead internal symposium
California’s pioneering climate change policies, how autistic people perceive emotions in music, speech and faces and quantum physics are the subjects of tonight’s Internal Scholars Symposium. The Symposium takes place at 7-9pm in the Gates Cambridge Scholars Common Room. The three speakers are: – Libby Blanchard, who is doing a PhD in Geography [2012].She will […]
Cambridge team scoops cancer start-up prize
A team of University of Cambridge students, including a Gates Cambridge Scholar, have won a prestigious international competition to commercialise innovative breast cancer research. The students, including Gates Cambridge Scholar Grecia Gonzalez, are among 10 winners of the first Breast Cancer Startup Challenge, run by US organisations The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI), the Avon […]
Climate change and civilisation decline
Scientists, including Gates Cambridge Scholar Yama Dixit, have demonstrated that an abrupt weakening of the summer monsoon affected northwest India 4,100 years ago. The resulting drought coincided with the beginning of the decline of the metropolis-building Indus Civilisation, which spanned present-day Pakistan and India, suggesting that climate change could be why many of the major […]
The business of education
What can the Chinese learn about entrepreneurship from Cambridge and vice versa? A new course run by a Cambridge alumna aims to bring the two different experiences of business together. Sixteen Chinese students and entrepreneurs attended the first course run by Wedge Education, a company set up by Gates Cambridge alumna Xiaohan Pan. The course, […]
