Dr. Cohen named to prestigious national board

Sam Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.

Sam Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., the Havlik-Wall Professor of Oncology in the UNMC Department of Pathology and Microbiology, has been named to the National Institute of Environmental Health Services (NIEHS) Board of Scientific Counselors.

The NIEHS, which is one of the National Institutes of Health, aims to improve health care by understanding how environmental factors contribute to disease.

The board of scientific counselors provides advice to NIEHS leaders and evaluates the institute’s intramural and collaborative programs.

“It’s a nice honor and it’s a lot of work,” Dr. Cohen said of being named to the NIEHS board. “It’s also a nice recognition for the work that I’ve been doing in toxicology and cancer research.”

In his research, Dr. Cohen focuses on mechanisms of carcinogenesis. His research was key in the federal government’s 2000 decision to drop saccharin from its list of cancer-causing chemicals.

Good company Dr. Cohen joins Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center, as medical center faculty who serve on NIH boards. Dr. Cowan currently serves on the National Cancer Institute’s National Cancer Advisory Board.

In 2001, he received the prestigious Arnold J. Lehman Award from the Society of Toxicology for more than 35 years of work in carcinogenesis and toxicology research, primarily utilizing the urinary bladder as a model system. In 1990, he received the University of Nebraska’s Outstanding Research and Creativity Award.

From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Cohen served on the board of scientific counselors for the National Toxicology Program, which is affiliated with the NIEHS. Dr. Cohen will start work on the NIEHS board on July 1.