Office of Public Relations - Newsroom
News Release
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Jim Spencer 303-724-5377; 720-346-4242, Jim.Spencer@ucdenver.edu
Med School’s J.J. Cohen Garners Jefferson Award
Aurora, Colo. (Jan. 14, 2009) - The University of Colorado system has recognized medical school professor and Mini Med School founder J.J. Cohen with one of four annual Thomas Jefferson Awards.
Cohen, and MD and PhD, routinely receives high praise and recognition from his students as one of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine’s most creative and inspiring teachers. The eight-week Mini Med School for ordinary citizens, which Cohen founded in 1989, ranks among the university’s most popular public outreach programs. It attracts 1,600 people a year to lectures at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and remote broadcast sites around Colorado.
Cohen, a professor of immunology, also runs a program called Art in Science/Science in Art that uses the images produced in laboratories and research to show beauty while illustrating scientific principles.
In addition, he hosts the Denver chapter of Café Scientifique. Each month he brings together civilians and scientists at a local brew pub.
“The winners of the Thomas Jefferson Award exemplify CU’s commitment to serving Colorado,” said Michael Poliakoff, vice president for academic affairs and research. “They show that outstanding academic achievement and deep engagement with the needs of the community can be seamlessly connected. They model the best principles of our university community.”
Nomination criteria for the CU award that honors Jefferson’s legacies include a broad interest in literature, arts, sciences and public affairs; a strong concern for the advancement of higher education; a deeply seated sense of individual civic responsibility; and a profound commitment to the welfare and rights of the individual.
The School of Medicine faculty work to advance science and improve care as the physicians, educators and scientists at University of Colorado Hospital, The Children’s Hospital, Denver Health, National Jewish Health, and the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Degrees offered by the UC Denver School of Medicine include doctor of medicine, doctor of physical therapy, and masters of physician assistant studies. The School is part of the University of Colorado Denver, one of three campuses in the University of Colorado system. For additional news and information, please visit the UC Denver newsroom online.
###