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
How do you help marginalised people? For Irish student Niamh Skelly this is more than a theoretical question. She is doing an MPhil in Social and Developmental Psychology, but has […]
A Gates Cambridge Scholarship virtual information session for international applicants (i.e. those who must apply by the 1 December 2010 deadline) will be held from 10:30am – 11:30am (Eastern Daylight […]
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Gates scholar Luning Sun will give a talk on Thursday on neuropsychological tests which measure how badly brain injury or psychiatric illness has affected the brain. The talk, A brief […]
Niklas Zennström, the Founder of Skype and Kazaa, gives a Gates Distinguished Lecture on the secrets of being a successful entrepreneur.
Gates scholar Christopher Geissler is hosting a debate on when pictures of suffering children step over the line and become exploitative at this year’s Cambridge Festival of Ideas. ‘How far […]
Gates Alumna Leda Smith has been working for a marine conservation organisation which has been selected out of 800 nominations worldwide to become one of the 12 finalists for the […]
Gates scholars will be speaking about their research and campaigning in areas ranging from citizen journalism and online protests to African enterprise and business networking at this year’s Cambridge Festival […]
One of the founders of Skype will give some pointers on how to set up “game changing businesses” at a lecture on Tuesday. Niklas Zennström, the Founder of Skype and […]