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Ethan David Cohen, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Administrative: (585) 276-4994

Office: (585) 276-5898

Fax: (585) 275-1288

Faculty Appointments

Biography

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 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.

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 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.

Credentials

Education

1997
BS | Lebanon Valley College
Biochemistry

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

2004
PhD | Univ Pennsylvania Sch Medicine
Cell and Molecular Biology

Awards

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

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

2002
The Susan Heyner Award for Excellence in Research

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Publications

Journal Articles

2/10/2023
Burris J, Beutner G, Cohen ED, Yee M, O'Reilly MA, Porter GA. "Cyclophilin D inhibition rescues cardiac function in neonatal hypoxia." Biophysical journal.. 2023 Feb 10; 122(3S1):96a.

7/6/2021
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. "Coordination of endothelial cell positioning and fate specification by the epicardium." Nature communications.. 2021 Jul 6; 12(1):4155. Epub 2021 Jul 06.

1/28/2021
Cohen ED, Yee M, Porter GA, Ritzer EE, McDavid AN, Brookes PS, Pryhuber GS, O'Reilly MA. "Neonatal hyperoxia inhibits proliferation and survival of atrial cardiomyocytes by suppressing fatty acid synthesis." JCI insight.. 2021 Jan 28; Epub 2021 Jan 28.

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