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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

Scholar wins state senate seat

Gates Cambridge Scholar Dr Krishnan Subrahmanian has been elected to the Minnesota state senate this week. Krishnan [2006], who describes himself as “a father, son, husband, educator, public health leader, […]

Scholar re-elected as a state representative

Gates Cambridge Scholar Greg Nance has been re-elected as a Washington State representative for Kitsap County this week – and with an increased majority. Kitsap County is one of 49 […]

Tsitsi Dangarembga gives Gates Cambridge Annual Lecture

Award-winning author Tsitsi Dangarembga delivered the eighth Gates Cambridge Annual Lecture at St John’s Divinity School last night, giving the audience an exclusive insight into her latest non-fiction book. Her […]

What does responsibility mean in the age of AI?

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Gates Cambridge welcomes a new Trustee

Gates Cambridge is delighted to welcome alumna Mamta Thangaraj as its new Trustee, continuing her long-standing connection with the Gates community. Mamta, who is Director of Data Strategy at the […]

Gates Cambridge: Impact in Biotechnology

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Exploring the role of music festivals in post-war France

Apolline Gouzi [2023] has been devoted to music from an early age, but it is history of music that is her passion now. She describes her PhD as detective work […]

What does the silent continent sound like?

Gates Cambridge Scholar Simone Eringfeld [2022] has just released a podcast series, Antarctica Calling, based on her PhD research which invites listeners to connect more deeply to the frozen continent. […]

Scholar wins Adventure Travel Award for his book

A Gates Cambridge Scholar has won a prestigious prize for his book on his travels in Alaska at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. Ben Weissenbach’s book North to the […]

Monkey whisperer

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