FEATURE

Lewis Cohen MD, Department of Psychiatry, Receives 2008 TUSM Distinguished Faculty Award

Dr. Lewis Cohen Winner of TUSM 2008 Distinguished Faculty Award

Dr. Lewis Cohen, Director of the Renal Palliative Care Initiative, is one of only 2 winners of the Tufts University School of Medicine's Distinguished Faculty Awards for 2008. The award recognizes faculty members who have brought distinction to themselves and to TUSM in the areas of teaching, scholarship and service. He will be presented with the award at TUSM's March General Faculty meeting.

Views Scholarly Activity As His Strength

Saying that he has always enjoyed his opportunities to teach and

mentor medical students, residents and fellows, Dr. Cohen nonetheless feels his greatest strength is scholarship. His 15 year collaboration with Dr. Michael Germain from the Renal Division has yielded a series of progressively more challenging studies that have helped define a new field of renal palliative care. In addition to receiving funding from many private foundations as well as the National Institutes of Health, their research has given them opportunities to speak at international conferences and to collaborate with top-notch scholars.

Dr. Cohen acknowledges, "I am exquisitely aware that without my Baystate colleagues, especially Drs. Fischel and Mirot, and Consult Service members, Joyce Smith and Steve Luippold, I would not have the freedom to do the research and writing that led to my award." In addition, Dr. Cohen credits the encouragement he has received from his Chair, Dr. Benjamin Liptzin, throughout his 24 year career at Baystate.

Recognition By His Colleagues is Particularly 'Sweet'

Dr. Cohen has previously received numerous national honors, including, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Hospital Association's Circle of Life Citation of Honor. But says, "While it has been simply wonderful to receive national awards, there is nothing sweeter than feeling appreciated by the local people at Baystate and Tufts."

Award recipients are nominated by their faculty peers and selected by a committee comprised of Distinguished Professors. Four BMC faculty have previously been honored with this award:

• Laurence Lundy, Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology (1994)

• Paul Friedmann, Department of Surgery (1998)

• Martin Broder , Department of Medicine (2001)

• Edward Reiter, Department of Pediatrics (2007)