Current Cohen Laboratory Members
Mariana Acuna Aravena, PhD - postdoctoral fellow
Mariana is from Chile. She studied Biochemistry and completed her PhD in Medical Science at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago in 2015. She has been involved in various research areas in Gastroenterology including genetic mutations that cause hereditary colorectal cancer, hepatic cholesterol metabolism, lithiasis and liver damage. She joined the Cohen lab in September of 2016 where she will be studying the role of Acot12 in hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism.
Vincent Dartigue, MS - Research Assistant
Vincent is originally from Haiti. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry (2013) and Master of Sciences in Animal and nutritional sciences (2017) from West Virginia University. Having joined the Cohen laboratory in April 2020 as part of the Metabolic phenotyping Center, he is now trying to determine the ligand of the Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Transfer (START) domain of Acyl CoA thioesterase 12.
Renee Landzberg, BA - Research Assistant
Renée received her Bachelor of Arts in Integrative Biology (Organismic and Evolutionary Biology) from Harvard College in 2021. After joining the lab in 2019 to spend the following few summers and a semester with the Cohen Lab at Weill Cornell, she moved with the laboratory to Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where she currently serves as a research assistant. During this gap year before medical school, she has investigated small molecule inhibition of Them2 as a pharmacologic strategy for the management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and plans to continue a previous project from the lab involving inhibition of Them1 in hepatocytes.
Michele Niepel, PhD - Laboratory Manager
Michele received her PhD in Biochemistry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2004.
She has worked with Dr. Cohen since 1996 as a research assistant (1996-1999) and graduate student (1999-2004).
Since 2004, Michele has served as the Cohen Lab Manager. Michele enjoys spending her weekends relaxing with her husband, Mario and children, Max and Emma.
akiko sugiyama, phd - postdoctoral FELLOW
Akiko is from Japan. She majored in Pharmaceutical Sciences and obtained her pharmacist license in 2012. She completed her doctorate in Medical Science at Hiroshima University in 2016. After completing her PhD in Medical Science from Hiroshima University in May 2016 she continued research in gastroenterology including cholangiocarcinoma and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease at Hiroshima University Hospital, while also working as a pharmacist. Having joined the Cohen Laboratory in July of 2018, she is investigating the biological functions of Acyl-CoA Thioesterase 12 in intestine to reveal a part of the regulation of lipid and glucose metabolism in states of over-nutrition.
Yang Xie, PhD – Research Fellow
Originally from China, Yang obtained her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology (June 2011) and Master of Science in Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (June 2014) from China Pharmaceutical University. She joined Dr. Wen Xie’s lab at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy in 2014 for her doctoral study. After completing her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (March 2020), she joined the Cohen lab in August 2020 to conduct her postdoctoral work. Yang’s current research interests involve investigating the role of Them2 in skeletal muscle in regulating hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).