Paul Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.
Paul Cohen is the Albert Resnick, M.D. Associate Professor at the Rockefeller University. Paul has headed the Laboratory of Molecular Metabolism since 2015. He is also Senior Attending Physician at The Rockefeller University Hospital and Assistant Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Paul completed postdoctoral training at the Dana Farber Cancer
Institute, a Fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. Prior to that, Paul was a student in the Tri-Institutional M.D./Ph.D. program here at Rockefeller, where he completed Ph.D. research in Jeff Friedman’s lab. Paul received his A.B. in Biology from Harvard College.
Zeran (Rico) Lin
Zeran is a Ph.D. student in the David Rockefeller Graduate Program. She previously received her B.A. from Cornell University, where she performed undergraduate research in plant science. Zeran is interested in studying cell-cell interactions in adipose tissue microenvironment and their dynamics under different physiological conditions. She also likes fungi and plants!
Kaja Plucinska, Ph.D.
Kaja is a Novo Nordisk Foundation Postdoc Fellow in the Cohen Lab with a dual-affiliation in New York and Denmark (Metabolism Center, Copenhagen University). She received her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Aberdeen (UK) where she studied neuronal links between cognitive aging and diabetes. Kaja is interested in the endocrine function of brown fat and the inter-organ cross talk it mediates to control insulin sensitivity during normal physiology and pathophysiology such as obesity and diabetes. Her work is focused on the discovery of blood biomarkers of brown fat both in mice and human subjects exposed to environmental cold, as well as development of novel chemical proteomic tools to label, trace and enrich secreted factors in a
cell-type selective manner in order to better understand the impact of brown fat on metabolic health.
Xiaojing Huang, M.D., Ph.D.
Xiaojing Huang is a graduate of Princeton (A.B. in Chemistry), the MD-PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis, and the residency program in Radiation Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She joined the Cohen Lab to investigate the mechanisms linking obesity to cancer development and progression. She is interested in metabolism, cancer biology, informatics, and rock climbing.
Mascha Koenen, Ph.D.
Dr. Mascha Koenen is a Charles H. Revson postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Cohen at the Rockefeller University. She holds a B.S. and M.Sc. in Biology from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and a PhD in molecular medicine from Ulm University, Germany. Dr. Koenen studies organ and cellular crosstalk in the context of metabolic and inflammatory challenges and their impact on disease development. During her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Jan Tuckermann, she identified an important crosstalk of synovial fibroblasts and macrophages in steroid therapy of inflammatory arthritis. In her current postdoctoral research, Dr. Koenen investigates how different types of adipose tissue communicate with the vasculature and the bone and how loss of thermogenic adipose tissue, due to metabolic challenges, can affect blood pressure regulation and osteoporosis. Previously, Dr. Mascha Koenen was awarded a Walter-Benjamin postdoctoral fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG). Outside the lab Mascha likes to travel and explore New York City’s restaurant and cultural scene.
Yue Liu, Ph.D.
Yue Liu is a postdoc in the Cohen Lab. She received her undergraduate degree and Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Yue is interested in understanding how obesity influences anti-tumor immunity and response to immunotherapy. Outside the lab she loves fluffyanimals and cooking.
Alp Doymaz
Alp is an undergraduate student at Hunter College. He is working with Yue on obesity-driven breast cancer.
Ksenia (Ksusha) Morozova
Ksusha is a Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Ph.D. Fellow and a student in the David Rockefeller Graduate Program in Bioscience. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2019 with a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences (Biotechnology) and went on to study Immunology at Harvard Medical School, completing her master’s research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Ksusha is interested in adipocyte cell biology and lipid metabolism. Outside the lab, she enjoys swimming, exploring local farmers markets, and watching nature documentaries together with her cat, Toast.
Nakul Karandikar
Nakul Karandikar is a student in the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. Program pursuing his M.D. from Weill Cornell Medicine and Ph.D. from Rockefeller University. Nakul is also Co-Executive Director for the Weill Cornell Community Clinic. He received his B.Sc. in Biochemistry with honors from the University of Virginia (UVA) while studying the mechanisms underlying triggered neuronal exocytosis. He remained at UVA for an additional year to study insulin signaling in the brain as a Research Assistant while also serving as an EMT.
Zihan-Raquelle Yu
Zihan (Raquelle) is a graduate student in the David Rockefeller Graduate Program. She received her B.S. in Life Sciences from Yale-NUS College in Singapore, where she explored research in immunology, biochemistry, and animal behavior. In the Cohen lab, Raquelle is interested in studying the role of immune cells in maintaining adipose tissue homeostasis upon metabolic
challenges. She loves cooking, baking, and exploring food, art, and music around the city.
Lishu Yue
Lishu Yue is a Ph.D. student in the David Rockefeller Graduate Program. She received her B.S. in Biological Science from East China Normal University, where she performed undergraduate research in fat metabolism. In the Cohen lab, Lishu is interested in studying the genetics of human obesity. Outside the lab, she enjoys playing badminton, hanging out with her friends, and
exploring food in NYC.
Zahraa Hotait
Zahraa Hotait is a Research Assistant in the Cohen Laboratory. She received her B.Sc. in Human Science (Honors) from Georgetown University, where she conducted undergraduate research investigating diabetic glucose regulation in the context of attenuated renal glucose reabsorption. In the Cohen Lab, she is interested in exploring the basic cell biology of adipocytes and their interactions with immune cells in the tissue microenvironment. Zahraa also works as a clinical volunteer with the Weill Cornell Qlinic and is learning to sew and upcycle clothing in her free time outside of the lab!
Luke Olsen, Ph.D.
Luke Olsen is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cohen Lab. He received his PhD in Molecular and Integrative Physiology from the University of Kansas Medical Center and conducted the bulk ofhis graduate research at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. While at Stowers, Luke researched skeletal muscle adaptation – specifically muscle regeneration, circadian rhythms, and the acute response to exercise – within the Mexican Cavefish. Luke’s current focus is on the identification of exercise-induced muscle secreted proteins (termed myokines) which regulate adipose physiology. Outside the lab, Luke enjoys playing basketball, going to plays/musicals, and reading historical biographies.
Giulia Pagano, Ph.D.
Dr. Giulia Pagano studied Biology at the University of Milan, Italy, and for her master thesis shemoved to the Immunology Center of Marseille, in France, to study the molecular mechanisms of follicular lymphoma development. She then enrolled as a PhD candidate in immuno-oncology atthe Luxembourg Institute of Health, where she studied the role of regulatory T cells during
leukemia development. After her PhD, Giulia moved to the US to join the Cohen lab as labmanager. Here, she is helping understanding the molecular communication between adipocytes, immune cells and cardiovascular diseases. Outside of lab, she loves climbing and cuddling dogs!
Colleen Hadley
Colleen Hadley is a MD/PhD student in the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program. Colleen is studying the metabolic pathways that drive obesity accelerated breast tumor growth. She graduated with a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Michigan where she performed undergraduate research on the central mechanisms regulating energy homeostasis. Outside of lab, Colleen enjoys finding the best bakeries in NYC, running, and playing squickleball.
Nicolas Gomez-Banoy, M.D.
Nico is a Rockefeller University Clinical Scholar with a longstanding interest in understanding the pathophysiology of cardiometabolic diseases and treating patients afflicted with these conditions. He received his medical training in the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of James Lo at Weill Cornell Medicine, where he uncovered the role of a complement factor in regulating the survival and identity of insulin-producing beta cells in the context of diabetes. After, Nico joined the Weill Cornell Internal Medicine Program as part of the medical research track pathway and finished his IM residency in 2022. He currently serves as an endocrinology fellow at Weill Cornell and MSKCC, as well as a researcher in the Paul Cohen lab at Rockefeller University. His main interests lie in the genetics behind thermogenic adipocytes in humans, as well as the effects of adipose tissue on the response to cancer therapies. Outside the lab, Nico enjoys playing soccer and tennis and taking his dog Mora to the park.
Ruijie Xiang
Ruijie is a research assistant in Cohen lab. He graduated from ShanghaiTech University in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Science. Ruijie studied epigenetic regulation of adipocyte development and circuit basis of sleep deficits in Parkinson’s disease back in his undergraduate lab. Here, he is exploring the secretory properties of adipocyte both at the cellular and organismal level. He loves biology, classical music, playing the piano and travelling.