Daniel N. Cohen

Year entered: 2003

Degrees Received:
B.S., Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Washington, 2003
Ph.D., Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Graduate Program, 2008
(Transferred to Vanderbilt MSTP for final two years of program)

Thesis Advisor: Dwight Anderson, Ph.D., Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Graduate Program

Thesis Research: Virus assemby and morphogenesis

Dan entered the MD/PhD Program in the Summer of 2003 after he earned a B.S. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Washington in Seattle. There, he began studying the molecular biophysics of kinesin, a neuronal motor protein, with the support of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant. This work continued at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany.

Currently, his interests have turned to virus structure and morphogenesis and viral DNA packaging. These are necessary processes used by several human DNA viruses for the successful infection of a host. This project and other studies may lead to the development of novel targeted antiviral therapies and preventions.

Publications:

Xiang Y, Morais MC, Cohen DN, Bowman VD, Anderson DL, Rossmann MG. Crystal and cryoEM structural studies of a cell wall degrading enzyme in the bacteriophage  ø29 tail. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105:9552-9557. PMID: 18606992

Cohen DN, Erickson, SE, Xiang Y, Rossmann MG, Anderson DL. Multinfunctional roles of bacteriophage ø29 morphogenetic factor in assembly and infection.   J Mol Biol. 2008; 378:802-815.