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Biochemist and Nobel Prize winner Stanley Cohen dies in Nashville at age 97

Nashville Tennessean

American biochemist and Nobel Prize winner Stanley Cohen died Wednesday in Nashville, his family said. He was 97.

Loved ones said Cohen died peacefully with his wife, Jan Jordan, by his side.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on Nov. 17, 1922, Cohen was educated there in the public school system and then attended Brooklyn College, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1943 with a double major in chemistry and zoology.

He received his M.A. in zoology from Oberlin College in 1945 then earned his Ph.D. from the department of biochemistry at the University of Michigan in 1948. In 1952, he become a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Vanderbilt University biochemist Stanley Cohen talks about solving mysteries of cell growth to the media in his fifth floor laboratory at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Oct. 13, 1986. Cohen, a Nobel Prize winner in medicine, died Wednesday in Nashville.

The next year, Cohen became associated with the Department of Zoology at Washington University, joined Rita Levi-Montalcini to isolate a nerve growth factor that Levi-Montalcini had discovered in certain mouse tumors, and became educated in the field of experimental embryology.

He continued his research on cellular growth factors after moving in 1959 to Vanderbilt University, where he was an assistant professor in the biochemistry department.

Vanderbilt's Dean of Basic Sciences Lawrence Marnett called Cohen an extraordinary scientist and great colleague.

"His studies of growth factor signaling illustrate the powerful impact of basic research," Marnett said. "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.”

In 1986, Cohen and Levi-Montalcini were Nobel laureates in physiology for their discovery of growth factors. Their findings have proven fundamental to understanding the development of cancer and designing anti-cancer drugs.

Stanley Cohen, left, answers questions from the media about winning the Nobel Prize in medicine for his research and discoveries on cell growth during a press conference at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Oct. 13, 1986. The biochemist shared the prize with Rita Levi-Montalcini of Rome, a neuro-embryologist. Looking on is Vanderbilt Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt, right.

According to Vanderbilt University, Cohen also received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University.

Loved ones said Stanley approached life with optimism and a smile and always made the best of every situation.

In retirement, Cohen and his wife spent time in Tucson, Arizona, where he volunteered in schools teaching children about science.

In addition to his wife, Cohen is survived by three children: Bert Bishop and his wife, Kay Bowen; Ken Larsen; Cary Cohen and his wife, L’Don Sawyer; as well as two granddaughters, Lori Cohen and Tamara Larsen.

Per Cohen's request, no memorial service will take place.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund at Vanderbilt University, established to support innovative and high-risk research.

Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.