Research in the Cohen Lab is motivated by two major questions that have plagued the field of reproductive biology for hundreds of years: what are the conserved and distinct molecular mechanisms by which all mammals make healthy eggs and sperm, and why do these processes so often go wrong in humans, the latter resulting in such a high rate of pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and birth defects in our species? We explore these questions through several major lines of enquiry:

1. What are the molecular mechanisms that ensure appropriate crossing over between maternal and paternal chromosomes during meiosis in mammals?
2. How do various DNA repair machineries collaborate to ensure that all crossovers are established with high fidelity and that chromosome integrity is maintained during mammalian meiosis?
3. What are the unique gene regulatory mechanisms that exist throughout spermatogenesis to ensure the orderly progression through the distinct stages of sperm production?
4. How do non-coding RNAs contribute to unique gene regulatory programs during meiosis?

Our lab uses a wealth of genetic, biochemical, cellular, and cytogenetic methods to interrogate these processes in a number of species, most notably mouse and human. Moreover, we are intrigued by the many differences in meiotic regulation between male and female gametogenesis, some of which may explain the very high rates of meiotic errors seen in female meiosis compared to male. 

Finally, our lab utilizes the fundamental discovery approaches outlined above to think about ways in which we can help healthy couples make informed decisions about their family planning. Not only do we seek to understand how and why meiotic errors occur in women, but our research directly informs new ways to think about assisted fertility for both men and women. On the flip side of the coin, we are using our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of meiotic regulation in males and females to discover new target pathways for male and female contraception, methods that will allow safe and reversible methods to prevent pregnancy when it is not wanted, and then to allow the safe production of healthy eggs and sperm for fertilization when pregnancy becomes the goal.

Dr. Cohen is interested in teaching reproductive biology to all levels of student from undergraduate to graduate and to veterinary/medical students. Her approach and motivation is simple: the reproductive system offers many ways to understand fundamental mechanisms in cell and molecular biology, but at the same time offers powerful models for understanding all aspects of mammalian cell physiology because of the unique endocrine, paracrine, and autocrine regulatory loops that define the various processes of reproductive biology. The translational consequences of reproductive performance, fertility preservation, and infertility are also important learning objectives in Dr. Cohen’s teaching mission.

Dr. Paula Cohen obtained her PhD in reproductive physiology in 1992 at the University of London, England, where she studied the endocrine regulation of implantation under the mentorship of Dr. Stuart Milligan. She conducted her postdoctoral research under Dr. Jeff Pollard at Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she focused on immune cell regulation of reproduction, later transitioning to her current research focus area in germ cell biology.

Dr. Paula Cohen obtained her PhD in reproductive physiology at the University of London, England, where she studied the endocrine regulation of implantation. She moved to the US in 1993, taking a Postdoctoral position at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, where she focused on regulation of gonadal function in males and females, and in maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. During this time, she become interested in germ cell biology and genome integrity, and transitioned into this area to study the roles of DNA repair proteins in mammalian meiosis. She joined the faculty of the Department of Genetics at Albert Einstein College in 2000, and then in 2004 was recruited to Cornell University, within the Department of Biomedical Sciences. There, she rose through the ranks to full Professor in 2013. In 2018, she became Associate Vice Provost for Life Sciences, a role that she will vacate in June 2024. In February 2024, she accepted the position of Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. While at Cornell, she has received numerous merit awards for her research and scholarly contributions, the Cornell Provost’s award for Distinguished Scholarship (2009), and the SUNY Chancellor’s award for Academic Excellence (2017). Most recently, in January 2022, she was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Since starting her own lab, she has received continuous funding from NIH, the March of Dimes, the National Down Syndrome Society, the Hereditary Diseases Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2006, Dr. Cohen established the Cornell Reproductive Sciences Center (CoRe), the first Cornell-wide center encompassing clinicians and scientists from the College of Veterinary Medicine and from the Weill-Cornell Medical College, as well as participants from other colleges within Cornell University. In 2009, these efforts led to a P50 center grant from the NICHD, of which she remains PI to this day. She also started “Tri-Repro” an annual trainee-focused symposium in reproductive sciences shared with the Universities of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh.

Dr. Cohen has co-authored over 80 papers, served as a regular and ad hoc member on several different NIH Study Sections and numerous international funding agencies. She chaired the 2020 (2022) Gordon Research Conference on Meiosis and is set to vice-chair the 2025 Gordon Research Conference in Germinal Stem Cell Biology. In her own lab, Dr. Cohen has mentored 17 graduate students, 13 Postdoctoral fellows, and dozens of undergraduate and high school students. She was a participant lecturer and lab head at the Frontiers in Reproduction Course at Woods Hole for 13 years where she was also awarded the Jerry Strauss Beacon Award for Mentorship in the Reproductive Sciences in 2022. This was followed in 2024 with the SSR Mentoring Award. 

1. Roy J.C.L.,  Vitalo A., Andrew M.A., Mota-Silva E., Kovalenko M., Burch Z., Nhu A.M., Cohen P.E., Grabczyk E., Wheeler V.C., & Mouro Pinto R. Somatic CAG expansion in Huntington’s disease is dependent on the MLH3 endonuclease domain, which can be excluded via splice redirection. Nucleic Acids Research 49(7): 3907-3918 (2021) PMID: 33751106

2. Pereira C., Arroyo-Martinez G.A., Guo M.Z., Downey M.S., Kelly E.R., Grive K.J., Mahadevaiah S.K., Freire R., Turner J.M.A., Lyndaker A.M., Brieño-Enríquez M.A., Cohen P.E., Smolka M.B., & Weiss R.S. Multiple 9-1-1 complexes promote homolog synapsis, DSB repair, and ATR signaling during mammalian meiosis. eLife 11:e68677 (2022) PMID: 35133274

3. Sims J.R., Faça V.M., Pereira C., Ascenção C., Comstock W., Badar J., Arroyo-Martinez G.A., Freire R., Cohen P.E., Weiss R.S. & Smolka M.B. Phosphoproteomics of ATR Signaling in Mouse Testes. eLife 11: e68648 (2022) PMID: 35133275

4. Wang S., Lee K., Gray S., Zhang Y., Tang C., Morrish R.B., Tosti E., van Oers J., Amin M.R., Cohen P.E., MacCarthy T., Roa S., Scharff M.D., Edelmann W., Chahwan R. Role of EXO1 nuclease activity in genome maintenance, the immune response and tumor suppression in Exo1D173A mice. Nucleic Acids Research. 50(14):8093-8106 (2022) PMID: 35849338

5. Carro M.D.L.M., Grimson A., & Cohen P.E. Noncoding RNAs and RNA binding proteins in germ cell development. Current Topics in Developmental Biology 151: 245-279 (2023) PMID: 36681472

6. Brieño-Enriquez M.A., Faykoo-Martinez M., Goben M., Grenier J., McGrath A., Prado A., Sinopoli J., Wagner K., Walsh P., Lopa S., Laird D., Cohen P.E., Wilson M., Holmes M., and Place N. Postnatal oogenesis leads to an exceptionally large ovarian reserve in naked mole-rats. Nature Communications 14:670 (2023) PMID: 36810851

7. Alexander A.K., Rice E.J., Lujic J., Simon L.E., Tanis S., Barshad G., Zhu L., Lama J., *Cohen P.E., and *Danko C.G..  A-MYB and BRDT-dependent RNA polymerase II pause release orchestrates transcriptional regulation in mammalian meiosis. Nature Communications 14(1):1753  (2023) * denotes co-corresponding authors

8. Ascenção C.F.R., Sims J.R., Dziubek A., Comstock W., Fogarty E.A., Badar J., Freire R., Schimenti J.C., Grimson A., Weiss R.S., *Cohen P.E.  and *Smolka M.  A TOPBP1 Allele Causing Male Infertility Uncouples XY Silencing Dynamics From Sex Body Formation. eLife RP90887 (2024) PMID: 38391183 * denotes co-corresponding authors.

9. Horan T., Ascenção C.F.R., Mellor C.A., Wang M., Smolka M.B., and Cohen P.E. The DNA helicase FANCJ (BRIP1) functions in double strand break repair processing, but not crossover formation during prophase I of meiosis in male mice. PLOS Genetics 20(2): e1011175 (2024) PMID: 38377115

10. Condezo Y.B., Sainz-Urruela R., Gomez L., Salas-Lloret D., Felipe-Medina N., Wolff I.D., Bradley R., Barbero J.L., Sánchez-Martín M., de Rooij D., Hendriks I.A., Nielsen M.L., Gonzalez-Prieto R., Cohen P.E., Pendas A.M., and Llano E. RNF212B E3 ligase is essential for crossover designation and maturation during male and female meiosis in the mouse. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 121(25):e2320995121 (2024) PMID: 38865271

11. Wood A., Wolff I.J., Bradley R., Ahmed R., Toledo M., Gray S., and Cohen P.E. CNTD1 plays crucial roles in prophase I progression and crossover designation during female meiosis and is critical for establishing the ovarian reserve. Journal of Cell Biology 224(8): e202401021 (2025) PMID: 40488668

Browse PubMed for a complete listing of Dr. Cohen's publications

Since starting her own lab, she has received funding from NIH, the March of Dimes, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Hereditary Diseases Foundation. More recently, she received a prized Grand Challenge grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate a new strategy for contraceptive development in men. Medical College, as well as participants from other colleges within Cornell University. In 2014, she successfully obtained a P50 grant to fund research within the CRG as part of the NICHD “National Centers for Translational Research in Reproduction and Infertility”. While at Cornell, she has received numerous merit awards for her research contributions, the Provost’s award for Distinguished Scholarship (2009), and the SUNY Chancellor’s award for Academic Excellence (2017). 

In 2006, Dr. Cohen established the Center for Reproductive Genomics (CRG), the first Cornell-wide center encompassing clinicians and scientists from the College of Veterinary Medicine and from the Weill-Cornell Medical College, as well as participants from other colleges within Cornell University. She has co-authored over 60 papers, served as a regular and ad hoc member on several different NIH Study Sections, as well as several Special Emphasis panels for NICHD and NIGMS. Dr. Cohen has reviewed grants for international panels, including serving on the advisory board for the German Government’s Research Foundation for their special priority program in “Genome Haploidization” for six years, as well as for the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Foundation (UK), The Telethon Foundation (Italy), and for the European Research Council. In 2016, she was elected by her peers to become the vice-Chair for the 2018 Gordon Research Conference on Meiosis and the chair for the 2020 meeting. Dr. Cohen previously served as associate editor for the journal, Chromosoma, and currently serves in that role for PLoS Genetics, and previously served on the editorial advisory board of Chromosome Research. She has participated as a lecturer and lab leader in the Frontiers in Reproduction (FIR) course at the Marine Biology Labs at Woods Hole, MA, for the past fourteen years. In 2015, she contributed the first chapter on meiosis for the 4^th Edition of Knobil and Neil’s Physiology of Reproduction (Elsevier Press). She has served as the Director of Admissions for the Graduate Field in Genetics and Development, and on the steering committee for that field as well as for the graduate field of Molecular and Integrative Physiology.