Sir Philip Cohen (born 22 July 1945) is a British researcher, academic and

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

winner based at the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, School of Life Sciences at the

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

. During the 1990s he was the world's third most cited professor (and the second most cited in the fields of biology and biochemistry) and has been described by Professor Garry Taylor of the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

as "one of the world’s top scientists". and by Professor Sir Peter Downes as "arguably the UK's leading biochemist and an iconic figure in UK science". As of 2008 he has written over 470 peer-reviewed papers and given over 250 invited lectures in 33 countries, and has been repeatedly linked to a move of biotechnology companies to Dundee and the economic regeneration that came with it, to the point where 15% of the local economy is derived from biotech companies and their employees. His work has also seen Dundee attracting some of the world's best scientists, with over 1% of the world's most cited scientists residing in Dundee and fundraising of more than £35 million over the last 10 years to help attract them.

Early life and career

He was born in Middlesex, and after leaving

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Gre ...

County Grammar School he attended

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he was awarded a BSc in 1966 with first class honours and a PhD in 1969 under Michael Rosemeyer. After leaving UCL he spent two years at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

doing postgraduate work with

Edmond H. Fischer Edmond Henri Fischer (April 6, 1920 – August 27, 2021) was a Swiss-American biochemist. He and his collaborator Edwin G. Krebs were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1992 for describing how reversible phosphorylation works ...

before returning to Britain in 1971 to become a lecturer at the

, where he continues to work. He was made a reader in 1978 and gained a personal chair in 1981. In 1982, he was made a fellow of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 1,800 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

, and in 1984 he became a

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Research professor and elected a fellow of both the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

and

. In 1990 he was made Director of the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit, a position he held until 2012. Also in 1990 he was made a fellow of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

. In 1993, he was made a fellow of UCL and in the 1998

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dynastic ...

was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

, served as a founding member of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...

and was made an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. In 2006, it was announced that Sir Philip Cohen would be taking over as president of the

Biochemical Society The Biochemical Society is a learned society in the United Kingdom in the field of biochemistry, including all the cellular and molecular biosciences. Structure It currently has around 7000 members, two-thirds in the UK. It is affiliated with t ...

. In 2008, Philip established and was Director of the SCottish Institute for ceLL Signalling (SCILLS). In 2012, the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit expanded its research focus and absorbed SCILLS to become the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit. He was Director of the

Division of Signal Transduction Therapy The Division of Signal Transduction Therapy or DSTT is an organization managed by the University of Dundee, the Medical Research Council, and the pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Serono, Janss ...

from its founding in 1998 until 2012. He is currently Deputy Director.

Awards and recognition

He has received many awards for his work, including the 1992 Prix van Gysel of the Belgian Royal Academies of Medicine, a Special Achievement Award at the 1996 Miami Biotechnology Winter Symposium, the

Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine Established in 1986, the Louis-Jeantet Prizes are funded by the ''Fondation Louis-Jeantet'' and awarded each year to experienced researchers who have distinguished themselves in the field of biomedical research in one of the member states of t ...

in 1997, the

Datta Medal Datta may refer to: * Dutta (surname), an Indian family name found among Bengali and Punjabi Hindus * Dattatreya, a Hindu deity * Datta, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a Union Council of Mansehra District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa * Data, Hisar or Datta, a villag ...

of the

Federation of European Biochemical Societies The Federation of the European Biochemical Societies, frequently abbreviated FEBS, is an international scientific society promoting activities in biochemistry, molecular biology and related research areas in Europe and neighbouring regions. It was ...

the same year, the

Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine The Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine was established in 2003. With the award the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Debrecen, Hungary aims to recognize extraordinary achievements in the field of biomedicine. Nominees are expected to have ...

in 2004 and a

in 2008 for "his major contribution to our understanding of the role of protein phosphorylation in cell regulation". He has also been given honorary DSc degrees from the universities of Abertay,

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

and

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...

. He is now in the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

References

External links

Professional profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Philip 1945 births Living people Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization People from Hendon Albert Einstein World Award of Science Laureates British biologists Royal Medal winners Alumni of University College London University of Washington alumni Knights Bachelor Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Academics of the University of Dundee Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science