Dr. Myron S. Cohen stands as a preeminent leader in infectious disease research and global health with over four decades of distinguished contributions to medicine. He currently serves as the Yeargan-Bate Eminent Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, and Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also directs the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Health. After earning his medical degree from Rush Medical College following undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Michigan and infectious disease fellowship at Yale University. Dr. Cohen joined the UNC faculty in 1980 and has since built one of the world's most influential research programs in HIV transmission and prevention, establishing himself as a cornerstone of the university's medical research enterprise.
Dr. Cohen's groundbreaking work as architect and principal investigator of the multinational HIV Prevention Trials Network 052 study fundamentally transformed global HIV prevention strategies by demonstrating that antiretroviral treatment effectively prevents sexual transmission of HIV-1, a finding recognized by Science Magazine as the Breakthrough of the Year in 2011. His laboratory pioneered innovative methods to measure HIV in genital secretions and established critical relationships between inflammatory conditions and HIV excretion in semen, providing essential scientific foundation for treatment-as-prevention paradigms. Over his prolific career spanning more than 500 publications, he has made seminal contributions to understanding antiretroviral agents' capacity to block HIV replication in the male genital tract through detailed molecular phylogenetic analysis. This work has directly informed global health policy, leading to the widespread adoption of test and treat strategies that have saved millions of lives worldwide and reshaped the trajectory of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Beyond his research achievements, Dr. Cohen has profoundly influenced global health through his leadership as co-chair of the NIH's HIV Prevention Trials Network, which coordinates prevention research across multiple continents and has become the gold standard for international clinical trials collaboration. His laboratory's more recent work has extended to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, where he serves on the NIH ACTIV Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee of the NIAID COVID Prevention Network, leading research on monoclonal antibodies for prevention and early treatment. Recognized with numerous honors including the North Carolina Award for Science and the prestigious O. Max Gardner Award, his legacy continues to inspire a new generation of researchers dedicated to combating infectious diseases. Dr. Cohen remains actively engaged in advancing global health research, with his current work focusing on optimizing prevention strategies for emerging infectious threats while continuing to refine approaches to HIV elimination worldwide.
