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
For researchers in technology clusters, a shared language matters more than being physically close to peers, according to a new study by a Gates alumnus. Franz Huber’s study, published in […]
A study of cardiovascular disease in Bangladesh co-led by a Gates scholar is attracting international attention as statistics show the number of people suffering from the disease has increased 3,500% […]
People in developing countries are copying the glass buildings in the West to the detriment of their environment, claims a Gates scholar-elect. Linda Gichuyia [2011] says that since the majority […]
Gates alumna Hilary Levey has written an article in the Boston Globe giving vital statistics on the past 25 years of the Miss Massachussetts Pageant. She says the competition, which […]
A new braking system developed by a team of Cambridge engineers and industry experts could shorten trucks’ braking distances significantly and improve road safety. The team includes Gates alumnus Jonathan […]
A Gates alumnus has been appointed coordinator of the working group of a UN agency which aims to make audiovisual media accessible to people with disabilities. Pradipta Biswas was appointed […]
Scholar-elect Amy Zhang has had her picture posted on a billboard at Rutgers University to promote her Gates scholarship award. The billboard reads: “Rutgers scholars are among the brightest in […]
Young coral fish use their noses to detect predators and avoid making their homes in patches of the reef that they occupy, according to a new study co-authored by Gates […]
As a young child, Jamila Haider‘s parents took her to Afghanistan. Just over 20 years later she was back there working on natural resource management, looking at ways to embed […]
A Gates alumna has set up a blog on human trafficking to raise awareness about the problem. Wendi Adelson [2002], who studied for an MPhil in International Relations at Cambridge […]