Alan R. Cohen, M.D.
"My 7-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor more than half the size of her little head, and it hit me and her mom like a ton of bricks. Within 24 hours, Dr. Cohen began emergency surgery. Eight hours later, he and the neurosurgical team were able to remove the tumor and give me my baby back. Dr. Cohen saved my daughter’s life and I couldn't be more grateful."
- Shawn L., Patient's Father
Dr. Alan R. Cohen is the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital and Professor of Neurosurgery, Oncology and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He treats all aspects of pediatric neurosurgery with a particular focus on childhood brain tumors. He emphasizes family centered care with the goal of getting each patient back to being a kid again.
FORTHCOMING BOOK:
Comfort Always:
Healing in the Age of Technology
This is a book about celebrating life, postponing death and the forgotten art of healing in the modern age of technology. The central characters are fragile young patients and their families, each referred with a newly-diagnosed brain tumor, each facing the crisis of their lives.
The stories showcase recent remarkable advances in technology that have led to dramatic improvements in survival. But its major focus is to highlight the forgotten non-technical measures in the art of healing, including kindness, compassion, empathy, hope, humor and humility. The raw, unvarnished stories are compelling accounts of joy, heartbreak, courage and resilience.
FAMILY-CENTERED CARE
Technological advances in healthcare have enabled us to accomplish things in the operating room that were unimaginable even several years ago. We have novel tools to combat disease, relieve suffering and in some cases even prolong life.
But there is a significant difference between treating the disease and healing the patient. In the modern age of technology there are equally important humanistic factors there are sometimes forgotten in the art of healing. These include simple but important considerations such as kindness, empathy, compassion, optimism, humor, hope and humility.
Technology treats the disease;
humanity heals the patient.
ABOUT
Alan R. Cohen, MD is the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery and Professor of Neurosurgery, Oncology and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His area of specialty is treating infants and children diagnosed with brain tumors. Dr. Cohen’s goal is to get his patients back to being a kid again. He has a patient-centered approach to caring for each of his patients, working closely with the child’s family at every stage of the decision-making process.
He has served as President of the Society of Neurological Surgeons, President of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons, Chairman of the AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery, President of the Boston Society of Neurology and Psychiatry and President of the Ohio State Neurosurgical Society. He was a Director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and a Director of the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery.
He has been visiting professor at over 60 academic centers in the US and abroad. He was the inaugural US editor of the international journal, Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, and is associate editor of Child’s Nervous System. His bibliography includes 250 journal, chapter and book publications and 350 national and international presentations.
LECTURE ON HUMILITY
Dr. Cohen speaks internationally about the role of family-centered care in neurosurgery, as well as his work in minimally invasive neurosurgery.
In this video, Dr. Cohen speaks as the honored guest at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons on the topic of humility.
RESEARCH
PROGRAM
Dr. Cohen has developed minimally invasive techniques to enhance the safety and efficacy of selected pediatric neurosurgical procedures. He serves as director of the Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Laboratory at Johns Hopkins and directs the Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Fellowship Program. His lab focuses on developing novel instruments and surgical approaches.
.jpg)