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
To start the Easter Term Gates Distinguished Lecture Series, Sir Richard Dearlove will talk on Wednesday 29 April on ‘A 21st Century View of National Security’. Sir Richard is Master […]
The year 2010 is the tenth anniversary of the Gates Cambridge Trust. An important milestone, to be marked by a weekend of celebration in Cambridge for Gates scholars and alumni, […]
Distinguished Lecture Series: Dr. James Nataro “Vaccine Development in the Year 2100” Cambridge University Communications Office: Vaccines could eventually be developed which could prevent the deaths hundreds of thousands […]
The Trust is pleased to announce the names of the new Gates Cambridge Scholars from the USA who were selected in Annapolis, MD on 6 and 7 February 2009. Full […]
Xiaohan Pan (2005) has organised The Undergraduate Exchange Programme between Zhejiang University and the University of Cambridge to promote mutual understanding and potential cooperation between undergraduates in these two leading […]
Chloe Schama (2007) has written an article on ‘Funding the Arts Economy’ for Guardian Newspaper on-line. Chloe puts forward the case for supporting the arts in tough economic times. Read […]
Congratulations to Gates Scholar Tom Johnson (2006) (pictured below left) and his mentor Dr Keith Martin (pictured below right). The pair have been awarded the prestigious NC3R prize for their […]
Xiaohan Pan (2005), a Chinese Gates Scholar, is featured in the this week’s Guardian newspaper. Xiaohan relates her experience of undergraduate education in China, where she was one of the […]
We are delighted to present a short film about the scholarships and scholars of the Gates Cambridge Trust. The aim of the film is to showcase the work of the […]
One of the smallest dinosaur skulls ever discovered has been identified by a team of scientists from London, Cambridge and Chicago, including Gates alumna Laura Porro (2004) who is now […]