Alan Cohen, PhD
- Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences (in the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center)
Overview
Dr. Cohen is interested in understanding how our bodies maintain dynamic equilibrium – how evolution has shaped networks of biological and physiological mechanisms that keep us in balance across changing conditions. This understanding can lead to metrics of equilibrium that are more integrative that standard molecule-by-molecule, and that could serve as a basis for understanding health, aging, and longevity across individuals, populations, and species. I rely largely on epidemiological data (or similar data in other species) to understand how networks of biomarkers change over time.
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences (in the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center)
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- BS, 1999 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- PhD, 2007 University of Missouri-St. Louis
Committees, Societies, Councils
Fellow, Gerontological Society of America, Biological Sciences section, 2018
Honors & Awards
CIHR Institute of Aging New Investigator Prize of Excellence in Research on Aging, 2014
CIHR New Investigator Salary Award, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2015
Chercheur-boursier Junior 1, Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec, 2012
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellowship Research Award, 2002
Research
Selected Publications
Cohen AA, Ferrucci L, Fülöp T, et al. A complex systems approach to aging biology. Nat Aging 2, 580–591 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00252-6
Cohen AA, Leung DL, Legault V, Gravel D, Blanchet FG, Côté AM, Fulop T, Lee J, Dufour F, Liu M, Nakazato Y. (2022). Synchrony of biomarker variability indicates a critical transition: Application to mortality prediction in hemodialysis. iScience, 25(6): 104385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104385
Cohen AA, Kennedy BK, et al. (2020). Lack of consensus on an aging biology paradigm? A global survey reveals an agreement to disagree, and the need for an interdisciplinary framework. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 191:111316. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2020.111316.
Li Q, Wang S, Milot E, Bergeron P, Ferrucci L, Fried LP, Cohen AA. (2015). Homeostatic dysregulation proceeds in parallel in multiple physiological systems. Aging Cell, 14(6):1103-12. doi: 10.1111/acel.12402.