Skip to content
Find a Provider
Ethan David Cohen, Ph.D.

Ethan David Cohen, Ph.D.

Contact

Office (585) 276-5898
Fax (585) 275-1288
Administrative (585) 276-4994

About Me

Professional Background

Dr. Cohen graduated cum laud from Lebanon Valley College before completing both his graduate and postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen's research is largely focused on understanding how intercellular signaling directs cardiac morphogenesis and how defe...
Dr. Cohen graduated cum laud from Lebanon Valley College before completing both his graduate and postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen's research is largely focused on understanding how intercellular signaling directs cardiac morphogenesis and how defect in this signaling contribute to human disease. Congenital heart defects are present in approximately 1% of newborn babies, 10% of stillborn fetuses and responsible for nearly 6% of deaths among children under one year of age. Furthermore heart disease is the leading cause of death among adults in the Western world. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying cardiac development will aid in the discovery of new methods to detect and treat congenital heart defects. Moreover since aberrant signaling by embryonic pathways is often associated with disease, this same information will also aid in the discovery of novel treatments for adult cardiomyopathy. Many of these new treatments are likely to involve using stem/progenitor cells to replace damaged cardiac tissues. However our ability to differentiate multi-potent stem cells into functional cardiomyocytes is still limited and further insight into the molecular cues that guide cardiac development will be necessary to reach the full potential of regenerative medicine.

Faculty Appointments

Research Assistant Professor - Department of Pediatrics, Neonatology (SMD)

Credentials

Education

Ph.D. | University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine. Biomedical Graduate Studies. 2004

PhD | Univ Pennsylvania Sch Medicine. Cell and Molecular Biology. 2004

BS | Lebanon Valley College. Biochemistry. 1997

Awards

American Heart Association Grant-in-Aid Award. 2015 - 2107

Holtzer Prize for outstanding postdoctoral research in cell and developmental biology at the University of Pennsylvania. 2008

The Susan Heyner Award for Excellence in Research. 2002

Research

Dr. Cohen graduated cum laud from Lebanon Valley College before completing both his graduate and postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen's research is largely focused on understanding how intercellular signaling directs cardiac morphogenesis and how defe...
Dr. Cohen graduated cum laud from Lebanon Valley College before completing both his graduate and postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen's research is largely focused on understanding how intercellular signaling directs cardiac morphogenesis and how defect in this signaling contribute to human disease. Congenital heart defects are present in approximately 1% of newborn babies, 10% of stillborn fetuses and responsible for nearly 6% of deaths among children under one year of age. Furthermore heart disease is the leading cause of death among adults in the Western world. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying cardiac development will aid in the discovery of new methods to detect and treat congenital heart defects. Moreover since aberrant signaling by embryonic pathways is often associated with disease, this same information will also aid in the discovery of novel treatments for adult cardiomyopathy. Many of these new treatments are likely to involve using stem/progenitor cells to replace damaged cardiac tissues. However our ability to differentiate multi-potent stem cells into functional cardiomyocytes is still limited and further insight into the molecular cues that guide cardiac development will be necessary to reach the full potential of regenerative medicine.

Publications

Journal Articles

Cyclophilin D inhibition rescues cardiac function in neonatal hypoxia.

Burris J, Beutner G, Cohen ED, Yee M, O'Reilly MA, Porter GA

Biophysical journal.. 2023 February 10122 (3S1):96a. Epub 1900 01 01.

Coordination of endothelial cell positioning and fate specification by the epicardium.

Quijada P, Trembley MA, Misra A, Myers JA, Baker CD, Pérez-Hernández M, Myers JR, Dirkx RA, Cohen ED, Delmar M, Ashton JM, Small EM

Nature communications.. 2021 July 612 (1):4155. Epub 07/06/2021.

Neonatal hyperoxia inhibits proliferation and survival of atrial cardiomyocytes by suppressing fatty acid synthesis.

Cohen ED, Yee M, Porter GA, Ritzer EE, McDavid AN, Brookes PS, Pryhuber GS, O'Reilly MA

JCI insight.. 2021 January 28 Epub 01/28/2021.

Neonatal hyperoxia enhances age-dependent expression of SARS-CoV-2 receptors in mice.

Yee M, Cohen ED, Haak J, Dylag AM, O'Reilly MA

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.. 2020 July 22 Epub 07/22/2020.

Neonatal hyperoxia depletes pulmonary vein cardiomyocytes in adult mice via mitochondrial oxidation.

Yee M, Cohen ED, Domm W, Porter GA, McDavid AN, O'Reilly MA

American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology.. 2018 May 1314 (5):L846-L859. Epub 01/18/2018.

DAAM1 and DAAM2 are co-required for myocardial maturation and sarcomere assembly.

Ajima R, Bisson JA, Jay-Christian Helt , Nakaya MA, Habas R, Tessarollo L, He X, Morrisey EE, Yamaguchi TP, Cohen ED

Developmental biology.. 2015 December 1408 (1):126-39. Epub 10/23/2015.

Wnt5a and Wnt11 inhibit the canonical Wnt pathway and promote cardiac progenitor development via the Caspase-dependent degradation of AKT.

Bisson JA, Mills B, Paul Helt JC, Zwaka TP, Cohen ED

Developmental biology.. 2015 February 1398 (1):80-96. Epub 12/05/2014.

Wnt ligand/Frizzled 2 receptor signaling regulates tube shape and branch-point formation in the lung through control of epithelial cell shape.

Kadzik RS, Cohen ED, Morley MP, Stewart KM, Lu MM, Morrisey EE

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.. 2014 August 26111 (34):12444-9. Epub 08/11/2014.

High throughput genomic screen identifies multiple factors that promote cooperative Wnt signaling.

Miller MF, Cohen ED, Baggs JE, Hogenesch JB, Morrisey EE

PloS one.. 2013 8 (1):e55782. Epub 01/31/2013.

Wnt ligands signal in a cooperative manner to promote foregut organogenesis.

Miller MF, Cohen ED, Baggs JE, Lu MM, Hogenesch JB, Morrisey EE

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.. 2012 September 18109 (38):15348-53. Epub 09/04/2012.

Wnt5a and Wnt11 are essential for second heart field progenitor development.

Cohen ED, Miller MF, Wang Z, Moon RT, Morrisey EE

Development.. 2012 June 139 (11):1931-40. Epub 1900 01 01.

Aortic aneurysm generation in mice with targeted deletion of integrin-linked kinase in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Shen D, Li J, Lepore JJ, Anderson TJ, Sinha S, Lin AY, Cheng L, Cohen ED, Roberts JD, Dedhar S, Parmacek MS, Gerszten RE

Circulation research.. 2011 September 2109 (6):616-28. Epub 07/21/2011.

Wnt2 signaling is necessary and sufficient to activate the airway smooth muscle program in the lung by regulating myocardin/Mrtf-B and Fgf10 expression.

Goss AM, Tian Y, Cheng L, Yang J, Zhou D, Cohen ED, Morrisey EE

Developmental biology.. 2011 August 15356 (2):541-52. Epub 06/16/2011.

An evaluation of transmitral and pulmonary venous Doppler indices for assessing murine left ventricular diastolic function.

Yuan L, Wang T, Liu F, Cohen ED, Patel VV

Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography.. 2010 August 23 (8):887-97. Epub 06/29/2010.

The importance of Wnt signaling in cardiovascular development.

Tian Y, Cohen ED, Morrisey EE

Pediatric cardiology.. 2010 April 31 (3):342-8. Epub 12/05/2009.

Characterization and in vivo pharmacological rescue of a Wnt2-Gata6 pathway required for cardiac inflow tract development.

Tian Y, Yuan L, Goss AM, Wang T, Yang J, Lepore JJ, Zhou D, Schwartz RJ, Patel V, Cohen ED, Morrisey EE

Developmental cell.. 2010 February 1618 (2):275-87. Epub 1900 01 01.

Wnt signaling regulates smooth muscle precursor development in the mouse lung via a tenascin C/PDGFR pathway.

Cohen ED, Ihida-Stansbury K, Lu MM, Panettieri RA, Jones PL, Morrisey EE

The Journal of clinical investigation.. 2009 September 119 (9):2538-49. Epub 08/17/2009.

Wnt2/2b and beta-catenin signaling are necessary and sufficient to specify lung progenitors in the foregut.

Goss AM, Tian Y, Tsukiyama T, Cohen ED, Zhou D, Lu MM, Yamaguchi TP, Morrisey EE

Developmental cell.. 2009 August 17 (2):290-8. Epub 1900 01 01.

A Gata6-Wnt pathway required for epithelial stem cell development and airway regeneration.

Zhang Y, Goss AM, Cohen ED, Kadzik R, Lepore JJ, Muthukumaraswamy K, Yang J, DeMayo FJ, Whitsett JA, Parmacek MS, Morrisey EE

Nature genetics.. 2008 July 40 (7):862-70. Epub 06/08/2008.

A house with many rooms: how the heart got its chambers with foxn4.

Cohen ED, Morrisey EE

Genes & development.. 2008 March 1522 (6):706-10. Epub 1900 01 01.

Wnt signaling: an essential regulator of cardiovascular differentiation, morphogenesis and progenitor self-renewal.

Cohen ED, Tian Y, Morrisey EE

Development.. 2008 March 135 (5):789-98. Epub 1900 01 01.

Wnt/beta-catenin signaling promotes expansion of Isl-1-positive cardiac progenitor cells through regulation of FGF signaling.

Cohen ED, Wang Z, Lepore JJ, Lu MM, Taketo MM, Epstein DJ, Morrisey EE

The Journal of clinical investigation.. 2007 July 117 (7):1794-804. Epub 1900 01 01.

DWnt4 regulates cell movement and focal adhesion kinase during Drosophila ovarian morphogenesis.

Cohen ED, Mariol MC, Wallace RM, Weyers J, Kamberov YG, Pradel J, Wilder EL

Developmental cell.. 2002 April 2 (4):437-48. Epub 1900 01 01.

Expression of DWnt6, DWnt10, and DFz4 during Drosophila development.

Janson K, Cohen ED, Wilder EL

Mechanisms of development.. 2001 May 103 (1-2):117-20. Epub 1900 01 01.