News

Benjamin Cocanougher

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

Latest News

Bridging the public health data gap

When Anwesha Lahiri  [2021] was doing her master’s fieldwork in India, she visited a tribal village in a remote area on top of a mountain between two districts. Only around […]

Tracing the origins of our political beliefs

What makes some people more vulnerable to extremism than others? How do we build cognitive resilience against extreme ideologies? And how does the brain react to misinformation on social media? […]

A leading woman in STEAM

A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been selected as one of the 75 leading women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics in India. Yama Dixit will feature in the second edition of […]

Tackling the obesity epidemic in Africa

When she left school, Paula-Peace James-Okoro [2022] intended to become a medical doctor, but after starting a degree in Biochemistry she discovered a passion for the subject and for using […]

Triple win for Bill Gates Sr. Prize

For the first time three Gates Cambridge Scholars are sharing this year’s Bill Gates Sr. Prize in recognition of their outstanding research and social leadership. Kim van Daalen, Reetika Subramanian […]

Gates Cambridge Annual Report published

The Gates Cambridge Trust’s Annual Report 2021 is now available. It includes a summary of the Trust’s work during the year and the impact of our scholars and alumni in […]

Scholar one of 28 to win Carnegie Fellowship

A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been named as one of the 2022 Class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows. Jonathan Corpus Ong, Associate Professor of Global Digital Media at the University of […]

Gates Cambridge Class of 2022 announced

The Gates Cambridge Class of 2022 made up of 79 outstanding new scholars has been officially announced. The Gates Cambridge scholarship programme is the University of Cambridge’s flagship international postgraduate […]

A nasal and oral spray that aims to reduce Covid transmission and severity

An oral and nasal spray that aims to give added protection against Covid-19 has been developed by a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Dr Vijay Kanuru, a Pune-based nanotech inventor and scientist, […]

How parent-child conversations affect children’s ability to self-regulate

Before she started her PhD, Mishika Mehrotra [2021] was working as an Instructor Therapist with children with autism. Her role involved implementing a behavioural therapy programme for the children, who […]