Impact
Pinchas Cohen is a physician-scientist and dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, where he also holds the William and Sylvia Kugel Dean's Chair, serves as executive director of the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center and directs the Ney Center for Healthspan Science. He is a USC Distinguished Professor of Gerontology, Medicine and Biological Sciences. His research centres on mitochondria-derived peptides, a class of signalling microproteins encoded in the mitochondrial genome that his work helped discover. These include humanin, a 24-amino-acid peptide from the mt-16S rRNA region that acts as an insulin sensitiser and metaboloprotective factor; MOTS-c, encoded in the 12S region, with anti-diabetes and anti-obesity effects described as exercise-mimetic; and SHLP2, whose levels correlate with prostate cancer. He holds patents on novel peptides and co-founded CohBar, a company developing mitochondrial peptides for diabetes. Before joining USC in 2012 he was professor and vice chair for research at UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital and co-director of the UCSD/UCLA Diabetes Research Center. His recognitions include an NIA EUREKA Award, an NIH Director's Transformative R01, the GSA Kleemeier Award and AFAR's Irving S. Wright Award.
Metrics
Research output
501 works · 32,336 citations · h-index 95 OpenAlex ↗
Selected publications
- Low Protein Intake Is Associated with a Major Reduction in IGF-1, Cancer, and Overall Mortality in the 65 and Younger but Not Older Population ↗ 2014 · 930 citations
- A Periodic Diet that Mimics Fasting Promotes Multi-System Regeneration, Enhanced Cognitive Performance, and Healthspan ↗ 2015 · 885 citations
- Growth Hormone Receptor Deficiency Is Associated with a Major Reduction in Pro-Aging Signaling, Cancer, and Diabetes in Humans ↗ 2011 · 749 citations
- Consensus Statement on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Children with Idiopathic Short Stature: A Summary of the Growth Hormone Research Society, the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, and the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Workshop ↗ 2008 · 748 citations
- The Mitochondrial-Derived Peptide MOTS-c Promotes Metabolic Homeostasis and Reduces Obesity and Insulin Resistance ↗ 2015 · 744 citations
Research funding
38 NIH awards · USD 25M total NIH RePORTER ↗
- Dietary Restriction, GH/IGF-1 & Mechanisms of Cellular Protection and Regeneration National Institute on Aging · 2018 · USD 2M
- Dietary Restriction, GH/IGF-1 & Mechanisms of Cellular Protection and Regeneration National Institute on Aging · 2020 · USD 2M
- Dietary Restriction, GH/IGF-1 & Mechanisms of Cellular Protection and Regeneration National Institute on Aging · 2019 · USD 2M
- Dietary Restriction, GH/IGF-1 & Mechanisms of Cellular Protection and Regeneration National Institute on Aging · 2021 · USD 2M
- Dietary Restriction, GH/IGF-1 & Mechanisms of Cellular Protection and Regeneration National Institute on Aging · 2022 · USD 2M