Dr. Rick Cohen was the recipient of the 1998 Marian Kies Award. During his graduate training Rick worked with Dr. Guillermina Almazan, at McGill University.

The focus of Rick’s thesis was to characterize the muscarinic and adrenergic receptors expressed in rat brain oligodendrocytes' (OLs); to determine if ligand binding altered second messenger levels classically associated with these families of receptors, such as inositol phosphates, intracellular calcium and cyclic AMP; and to evaluate the role of the neurotransmitters, acetylcholine and norepinephrine on oligodendrocyte growth. His studies demonstrated that developing oligodendrocytes express functional muscarinic and adrenergic receptors, and suggested that acetylcholine may function as a trophic factor. These results provided new insights into the signals that regulate neuron-oligodendrocyte interactions in the development and in the mature central nervous system.

Dr. Cohen is currently an Assistant Research Professor at Rutgers University and the Director of the Stem Cell Core Facility at Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ.

 

 

Created 11/112009 SL