Sydney Cohen facts for kids
Sydney Cohen (born September 18, 1921 – died July 25, 2017) was a very important scientist. He was a Professor at Guy's Hospital Medical School, where he studied how diseases affect the body's chemistry. He was also a top expert on malaria, a serious disease spread by mosquitoes.
About Sydney Cohen
Sydney Cohen was born on September 18, 1921, in Johannesburg, South Africa. His parents, Pauline and Morris Cohen, had moved there from Lithuania.
He went to school at King Edward VII School, Johannesburg. Then he studied at Witwatersrand University, where he became a doctor in 1944. In 1945, he moved to the UK. He worked at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, helping soldiers who were hurt in the war.
For the next ten years, he traveled between the UK and South Africa. He earned another advanced degree from Witwatersrand University in 1954. That same year, he joined the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, UK. There, he spent six very busy years studying how proteins in the blood work in different animals and humans. He earned his PhD from the University of London in 1959.
In 1960, he moved to St Mary's Hospital Medical School. He became a Reader (a senior academic position) in the Department of Immunology. From 1965 until he retired in 1986, he was a Professor at Guy’s Hospital Medical School.
His Work on Malaria
Sydney Cohen's most important work was on malaria. He worked with another scientist named Ian McGregor. They were the first to show that protection against malaria could be passed from one person to another using special antibodies called IgG.
They also created a way to study how the body fights malaria in a lab. This helped them understand how specific antibodies protect against different types of malaria. Their work made it possible to find parts of the malaria parasite that could be used to create vaccines. It also helped develop ways to test new medicines for malaria.
Awards and Recognition
Sydney Cohen was a member of the Medical Research Council (MRC). He also led its Tropical Medicine Research Board from 1974 to 1976. He helped create the Royal College of Pathologists in 1964.
In 1978, he was honored for his amazing contributions to science. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. He was also given the title of CBE.
His Family Life
In 1950, Sydney married June Bernice Adler. She was a magistrate (a type of judge) whom he met at a tennis party. June passed away in London in 1999.
Later that year, he married Deirdre Maureen Ann Boyd. She had worked with him at Guy's Hospital. They later moved to St Andrews, a town on the east coast of Scotland. Sydney was a member of the famous Royal and Ancient golf club there.
Sydney Cohen passed away in July 2017, at the age of 95.
His son, Roger Cohen, was born in London in 1955. Roger grew up to become a well-known writer for newspapers like The New York Times and International Herald Tribune.
