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.
Centre College
Three Gates Cambridge Scholars debated whether gender equality is going backwards in the seventh episode of the current series of the ‘So Now What’ podcast. Reetika Subramanian [2019], William McInerney […]
When it comes to impact on society, Gates Cambridge Scholars have been improving the lives of others in many different ways, from work on social inclusion and social enterprise and […]
What helps birds adapt to human-modified environments and can they be trained to do so? While experts have talked about the importance of behavioural flexibility for some time, as expressed […]
Mike Martin has both studied history and been involved in historic developments in his home country, Russia. Mike [2025] was forced to flee Russia after the invasion of Ukraine when, […]
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been selected as one of 17 winners of the New Civil Engineer Bridges Awards 2025 by New Civil Engineer. Kasun Kariyawasam won the Bridge Engineer […]
Cancer needs to be reframed rather than renamed in order to reduce overtreatment, a Gates Cambridge Scholar argues in a new article. In The Power of the ‘C’ word’, published by […]
Noam Perl Treves’ PhD will explore Muslim-Jewish relations in 20th century Yemen, focusing on the country’s rural regions. The history of Yemeni Jews has been shaped by tribality, geographical dispersion […]
Three Gates Cambridge Scholars discussed climate diplomacy and just transition at a 25th anniversary Gates Cambridge Weekend on Saturday. The panel, chaired by Gates Cambridge Provost Eilis Ferran, covered the […]
Sonia Fereidooni’s work aims to highlight the ethical dimensions of big tech’s involvement in defence and surveillance and its implications for those in conflict situations such as the current situation […]
Elijah Darden was brought up with a strong sense of health inequalities and an awareness that multiple approaches affect wellbeing. Through his MPhil in Population Health Sciences, he is keen […]
This month’s 25th anniversary impact feature focuses on politics and law. The last 25 years have seen major political change across the world and Gates Cambridge Scholars have been working […]