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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
David McCandless to give Distinguished Gates Lecture
Data-journalist and infographics designer David McCandless will deliver a Gates Distinguished Lecture next week on how visualising data can help us to find interesting patterns and connections. McCandless’ lecture will take place on 8 March. He has pioneered novel methods to visualise the intricacies hidden within convoluted datasets, including complex political statistics, information about climate […]
Gates scholar on BBC Radio 4 programme
Gates scholar Siza Mtimbiri appeared on BBC Radio 4’s flagship Midweek programme this week to talk about his new charity. Siza, who is doing a PhD in Education, spoke about the Hope Academy and Medical Centre, a charity he has set up in Zimbabwe to create a model school in a poor rural area to […]
Gates scholar is lead author on major diabetes study
Having diabetes in mid-life may reduce a person’s life expectancy by an average of six years, according to a large, multinational study coordinated by the University of Cambridge whose lead author is Gates scholar Dr Sreenivasa Rao Kondapally Seshasai. Diabetes is already known to approximately double the risk of heart attacks and strokes, but these […]
UK’s ‘most entrepreneurial scientist’ to give Gates lecture
Chris Lowe, Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Trinity College, is to deliver the second Gates Distinguished Lecture of Lent Term on 1 March 2011. Elected the Most Entrepreneurial Scientist in the UK (2006), Professor Lowe will deliver insights into the challenges and future prospects of entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and […]
Gates scholars in water polo and powerlifting victories
Two Gates scholars helped their respective teams to victory in Varsity water polo matches against Oxford at the weekend. Both the men’s and women’s teams beat Oxford on Saturday, with the men’s team winning 13-12 and the women’s team winning 9-7. Alex Davies (2010) and Elzbieta Drazkiewicz (2007) were on each respective team. Alex, from […]
Gates Cambridge Scholars’ Distinguished Lecture – Margareta Wahlstrom
UN disasters expert gives Gates Distinguished Lecture. The UN’s Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction talked about how to limit the impact of natural disasters in a lecture on Wednesday, 16th February at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Margareta Wahlstrom will gave the first Gates Distinguished Lecture of 2011 on UN efforts to reduce the impact of […]
Gates Scholars’ Alumni Association: Career and Ethical Consideration webinar
Gates Alumni share how they incorporated their commitment to “making a difference in the world” into their career choices.
UN disasters expert to give Gates Distinguished Lecture
The UN’s Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction will talk about how to limit the impact of natural disasters in a lecture this week. Margareta Wahlstrom will give the first Gates Distinguished Lecture of 2011 on 16th February on UN efforts to reduce the impact of natural disaster through both improving disaster preparedness and the […]
Podcast: careers and ‘making a difference’
Gates alumni debated how to find an ethical career that makes a difference at the first in a series of webinars. The alumni – Andrew S. Robertson [2001], Chief Policy Officer at BIO Ventures for Global Health, Arne Morteani [2001], a Principal at Environmental Technologies Fund, social entrepreneur and author Robyn Scott [2004] and physician […]
Scholar sets up innovative language society
A Gates scholar has set up a language service which offers the first classes in the UK in spoken Sanskrit. Gitte Marianne Hansen, who is doing a PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, set up the Wolfson Language & Culture Society with three friends at the end of last year. She got the idea for […]
