Philip Cohen | |
---|---|
Born |
Middlesex |
22 July 1945
Nationality | British |
Fields | protein phosphorylation |
Institutions | University of Dundee |
Alma mater | University College London |
Doctoral advisor | Michael Rosemeyer |
Notable students | Dario Alessi |
Known for | research into protein phosphorylation |
Notable awards |
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Sir Philip Cohen FRS FRSE FMedSci (born 22 July 1945) is a British researcher, academic and Royal Medal winner. During the 1990s he was Britain'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 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.
He was born in Middlesex, and after leaving Hendon County Grammar School he attended University College London, 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 doing postgraduate work with Edmond H. Fischer before returning to Britain in 1971 to become a lecturer at the University of Dundee, where he has remained for the last 37 years. 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, and in 1984 he became a Royal Society Research professor and elected a fellow of both the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Royal Society. In 1990 he was made Director of the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit, and a fellow of the Academia Europaea. In 1993 he was made a fellow of UCL and in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours was knighted, served as a founding member of the Academy of Medical Sciences 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. He is currently a director of the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy.