Stanley Cohen, a biochemist awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on cell growth factors, died last Wednesday (February 5). He was 97.
A professor at Vanderbilt University from 1959 until his retirement in 1999, Cohen was known for his 1962 discovery of epidermal growth factor (EGF), a protein that stimulates cell growth and differentiation and plays an important role in tumor development and metastasis.
“[Cohen’s] studies of growth factor signaling illustrate the powerful impact of basic research,” Lawrence Marnett, dean of basic sciences at Vanderbilt, tells The Tennessean. “Stan’s work not only provided key insights into how cells grow, but it led to the development of many drugs that are used to treat cancer.”
Born in Brooklyn in 1922, Cohen was educated in the New York public school system before earning an undergraduate degree with majors in chemistry and zoology from Brooklyn College in ...
