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
The annual Gates Cambridge Scholarship webinars will start with the US-orient information session on 21 September 2010. The webinar will be at 1:00pm (Eastern Daylight Time) and will discuss international […]
Lucy Burgchardt is passionate about archaeology and wants to convey that to as wide a public as possible. She says that many people associate archaeology with finding out what the […]
The University of Cambridge has been named number one University in the world in the 2010 QS World University Rankings published today, the first non-US University ever to top the […]
Growing up on a tiny island on the Great Barrier Reef, it’s hardly surprising that Alexander Vail is deeply curious – and hugely passionate – about the natural world. From […]
12 minute film of the Gates Cambridge Scholarships 10th anniversary weekend on 2 – 4 July 2010
Lord Broers, former Vice-Chancellor of the University, former Chair of the Trustees of the Gates Cambridge Trust and one of the key players in settig up the Gates Cambridge Scholarships, […]
Each year we are delighted by the variety of destinations chosen by our Scholars when they depart Cambridge. Some continue with their studies, extending their research as post-docs, and sharing […]
A paper by Aaron Lobo and colleagues is published in this month’s issue of Conservation Letters. It describes how trawl fishing is surviving through the sale of previously unusable catch. […]
This prestigious award was made after a review of Rajiv‘s career track and achievements. The Royal Society of Public Health is the longest-established public health organisation in the UK, and […]