, education =

Hunter College High School Hunter College High School is a secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Hunter is publicly funded, and there i ...

, alma_mater = {{plainlist, *

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

( AB) *

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

( PhD) *

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

( PhD) , known_for = , awards = , spouse = , children = Adam Ezra Cohen (born 1979) is a Professor of Chemistry, Chemical Biology, and Physics at

. He has received the

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. The White ...

{{Cite web , url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pressroom/11052010 , title=President Honors Outstanding Early-Career Scientists , access-date=2011-05-03 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128053633/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pressroom/11052010 , archive-date=2017-01-28 , via= National Archives , work=

Office of Science and Technology Policy An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

, url-status=live and been selected by

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...

''to the

TR35 The Innovators Under 35 is a peer-reviewed annual award and listicle published by ''MIT Technology Review'' magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35. at ''Technology Review'' with lists of winners at technologyreview.com ...

list of the world's top innovators under 35.{{cite news, url=http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?TRID=608, title=2007 YOUNG INNOVATORS UNDER 35, Adam Cohen, 28. Harvard University, Making molecules motionless, date=October 3, 2009, work=Technology Review, publisher=MIT, access-date=May 3, 2011, archive-date=April 16, 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416115853/https://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?TRID=608, url-status=live

Education and academic career

Education

Cohen was born in 1979 in New York City, N.Y. He is the son of

Joel E. Cohen Joel Ephraim Cohen (born February 10, 1944) is a Mathematical and theoretical biology, mathematical biologist. He is currently Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of Populations at the Rockefeller University in New York City and at the Earth Institut ...

, Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of Populations at

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

in New York. He attended

Hunter College Elementary School Hunter College Elementary School is a New York City elementary school for select students who reside in New York City, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Administered by Hunter College, a senior college of the City University of New York or C ...

and

, a gifted magnet school in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.{{cite web, url=http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/cohen.htm, title=Lemelson-MIT Program, website=web.mit.edu{{dead link, date=June 2020, bot=medic{{cbignore, bot=medic He graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

and summa cum laude from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

with an A.B. in chemistry and physics. He received a Ph.D. in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

from

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where he was a

Marshall Scholar The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...

, in 2003, and a Ph.D. in

experimental physics Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and ...

from Stanford in 2006 with W.E. Moerner. Cohen completed a postdoctoral fellowship in chemistry at

in 2007.

Research

Cohen's research combines building physical tools to probe biological molecules, using nanofabrication, lasers, microfluidics, electronics and biochemistry to generate data. His current research includes single-molecule spectroscopy of microbial

rhodopsin Rhodopsin, also known as visual purple, is a protein encoded by the RHO gene and a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). It is the opsin of the rod cells in the retina and a light-sensitive receptor protein that triggers visual phototransduction ...

s, the motion of bacteria in mucus, and new magneto-optical and chiroptical effects in organic molecules.

Inventions

In fifth grade, Cohen invented an "alarm" clock that woke him by playing a prerecorded message. In high school, Cohen created an eye-tracking apparatus for neuroscience experiments to benefit the disabled, an electrochemical hard disk drive, and a device that applies physics to allow his eye movements to maneuver his computer cursor. He also invented and built a nanoscale patterning technique using an electrochemical

scanning tunneling microscope A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is a type of microscope used for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. Its development in 1981 earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, then at IBM Zürich, the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. ...

in his bedroom, which led to winning the

Westinghouse Science Talent Search Westinghouse may refer to: Businesses Current companies *Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the company that manages the Westinghouse brand, with licensees: **Westinghouse Electric Company, providing nuclear power-related services **Westinghou ...

.{{Cite web , url=http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F73980&EDATE , title=Student Inventor from New York City Wins $40,000 Scholarship In 56th Westinghouse Science Talent Search , access-date=2018-10-02 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509230745/http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F73980&EDATE , archive-date=2012-05-09 , url-status=dead For his dissertation at Stanford, Cohen invented the Anti-Brownian Electrokinetic trap, known as the ABEL trap, a machine capable of trapping and manipulating individual biomolecules in solution. His success in the Westinghouse competition led the then mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, to declare March 12, 1997 "Adam Ezra Cohen Day."

Awards

In 2012 ''Popular Science'' named Cohen one of the "Brilliant 10: the 10 most promising young scientists working today." In 2010 he won the

under the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

. and a NIH Director's New Innovator Award. In 2007, he was named to the

as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35. In high school, Cohen won the

, now

Intel Science Talent Search The Regeneron Science Talent Search, known for its first 57 years as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, and then as the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) from 1998 through 2016, is a research-based science competition in the United Sta ...

, for an invention that involved building a scanning tunneling microscope in his bedroom. He was also inducted into the National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors for the same invention in 1998. In 2014, he won the inaugural national Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists, awarded by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...

to "celebrate America’s most innovative and promising faculty-rank scientists and engineers.",

Liberia

Cohen and fellow scientist Benjamin Rapoport have visited Liberia working on science education. On their first trip in June 2009, the two toured the nation, while in 2010 they conducted an intensive training program at the University of Liberia that combined science basics, classroom teaching, laboratory techniques, and independent research.{{cite news, url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/08/basic-science/, title=Basic science Harvard and MIT scientists bolster teaching in war-ravaged Liberia, date=August 3, 2010, work=Harvard Gazette, publisher=Harvard, access-date=May 3, 2011, archive-date=October 5, 2010, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005083340/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/08/basic-science/, url-status=live

References

{{Reflist

External links

Adam Cohen CV
{{authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Adam Ezra 1979 births 21st-century American chemists Harvard College alumni Stanford University alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Hunter College High School alumni Harvard University faculty Living people Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Marshall Scholars Scientists from New York (state)