Stanley Cohen


Cohen, Stanley,

1922–, American biochemist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Univ. of Michigan, 1948. Cohen did his most important work at Washington Univ. with Rita Levi-MontalciniLevi-Montalcini, Rita
, 1909–2012, Italian-American neurologist, b. Turin, Italy, M.D. Univ. of Turin, 1936. A dual citizen of Italy and the United States, Levi-Montalcini did her most important work with Stanley Cohen at Washington Univ.
..... Click the link for more information.  in the 1950s. Studying mouse tumors implanted in chicken embryos, the pair isolated a nerve growth factor, the first of many cell growth factors found in animals; some of these were also first described by Cohen and by Levi-Montalcini. Their discovery of nerve growth factor radically changed the study of cell growth and development. For this discovery Levi-Montalcini and Cohen were awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In 1959 Cohen moved to Vanderbilt Univ., where he became a professor.

Cohen, Stanley

(1922– ) cell biologist; born in New York City. He taught at the Universities of Michigan (1946–48) and Colorado (1948–52) before joining Rita Levi-Montalcini's laboratory at Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.) (1953–59). He discovered the epidermal growth factor from mouse tissue extract, which accelerated the maturation of newborn mice. He continued his studies of this substance at Vanderbilt University (1959–86), determining its amino acid sequence and action on cells and wound healing. In 1986, he and Levi-Montalcini received the Nobel Prize in physiology for their fundamental contributions to cell and organ development.