DLH Director Named to National Academy of Sciences Committee

DLH Director of Public Health Research Sarah S. Cohen, MS, PhD has been named to an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine tasked with assessing the feasibility of a congressionally requested study on veteran health effects related to Manhattan Project related waste.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is the sponsor of this feasibility assessment which will identify, understand, and delineate a process for accessing available records on the health effects of radioactive materials or waste related to the Manhattan Project on veterans and determine the feasibility of a full epidemiologic study.

Dr. Cohen has spent her career leading the design, conduct, and analysis of epidemiologic studies related to occupational exposures (including radiation and numerous chemicals), pharmacoepidemiology, and nutrition on health outcomes including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.  She has over 100 publications, including many related to occupation and health outcomes as well as behavioral and genetic determinants of cancer and metabolic-related conditions such as obesity, racial disparities in cancer, biomarkers of cancer and obesity, and cancer screening. In addition to her role at DLH, she serves as an Adjunct Assistant Research Professor of Medicine within the Department of Medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.