� 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A 143A:2851–2852 (2007)

Introductory Comments: M. Michael Cohen Jr. Festschrift

John C. Carey1* and Robert P. Erickson2

1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, Utah2Department of Pediatrics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Received 30 August 2007; Accepted 31 August 2007

How to cite this article: Carey JC, Erickson RP. 2007. Introductory comments:M. Michael Cohen Jr. Festschrift. Am J Med Genet Part A 143A:2851–2852.

As springtime emerged in the Wasatch Mountainsand on the occasion of his 70th birthday, over 40colleagues, mentorees, and friends of Dr. M. MichaelCohen Jr gathered on the campus of the University ofUtah to celebrate his many accomplishments andcontributions to the field of medical genetics. ThisSpecial Issue for the American Journal of MedicalGenetics comprises articles presented at the Fes-tschrift symposium, held on March 31, 2007, as wellas several other papers submitted by collaboratorsand colleagues not able to attend the meeting. Thesize of this issue of the Journal attests to the regardthat Dr. Cohen is held to by the internationalcommunity of medical geneticists.

The idea to sponsor a Festschrift for M. MichaelCohen Jr. arose from conversations with colleaguesin the fall of 2006. Given Dr. Cohen’s prolificpublication record and multiple contributions tothe literature, we could not envision a better way tohonor his career than a ‘‘festival of writing,’’ the literaldefinitionof a Festschrift. The response toourCall forPapers for this Special Issue illustrates a simple truthfamiliar to many in the field—Mike’s passion forwriting.

Dr. M. Michael Cohen Jr. has had and continues toexperience a productive career in medical geneticsand syndromology. His curriculum vitae (http://www.mmichaelcohenjr.net) includes more than 400original articles, chapters, letters, and editorial com-ments, as well as 14 books, for which he is an authoror coauthor. Dr. Cohen holds academic degrees fromfour American universities and has been a professorat the University of Washington and at DalhousieUniversity, where he is currently Professor Emeritus.After his original schooling as a dentist, Dr. Cohentrained in medical genetics (as the first and onlygenetics fellow) with Dr. Robert J. Gorlin and inpathology. His professional and personal relation-ship with Dr. Gorlin spanned more than 40 years andwhile Mike claims ‘‘multiple mentors,’’ ‘‘Bob’’—weknow, is first and foremost.

The contributions of Dr. Cohen encompass manyareas of the field; however, the definition and

delineation of human malformations, dysplasias,and their syndromes stand out. His remarkableability to recognize patterns is exemplified by theoriginal observation of what are now consideredimportant and prototypic entities—Cohen syndrome(called ‘‘Colorado’’ syndrome by Mike and col-leagues because of the geographic origin of two ofthe original patients), craniofrontonasal dysplasia(FND) (called ‘‘Cohen syndrome’’ by many plasticsurgeons because of the seminal article describingthe condition in 1979) and Proteus syndrome.Notably, the gene for two of these, Cohen syndrome(COH1) and EFNB1 has been identified while thebasis for theProteus syndrome is still amystery. (Onahistorical note, Mike [Cohen, 1988] recognized thatJoseph Merrick, the so called ‘‘Elephant Man,’’ hadProteus syndrome rather than neurofibromatosis,which was his presumed diagnosis for most of the20th century). Dr. Cohen also contributed signifi-cantly to the delineation of the Weaver syndromeand the Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome, layingpart of the foundation for his career–long interest inOvergrowth (see related articles in this Issue).

Dr. Cohen’s CV lists many other contributions tosyndromology over recent years but what is not asobvious from perusing this list is his mentorship ofclinical investigators around the world who consis-tently sought his council on ‘‘tough cases’’ or hisadvice on characterizing an observation.

Two of Dr. Cohen’s other accomplishments—webelieve—are worthy of particular notation: (1)Whenever the malformations, holoprosencephalyand craniosynostosis, are mentioned, Cohen is theworld’s recognized authority, and (2) M. MichaelCohen Jr., along with his mentor, Robert Gorlin,represents the penultimate scholar of syndromes.

*Correspondence to: John C. Carey, M.D., MPH, University of UtahHealth Sciences Center, American Journal of Medical Genetics, 419Wakara Way, Suite 213, Salt Lake City, UT 84108.E-mail: john.carey@hsc.utah.edu

DOI 10.1002/ajmg.a.32105

Dr. Cohen’s role in the second, third, and fourtheditions ofGorlin’s Syndromes of theHeadandNeck,his many reviews and chapters, his books, especiallyCraniosynostosis andTheChildwithMultipleDefects,illustrate his uncanny ability to comprehensively andcritically summarize the literature on a conditionwhile placing the entity in its context among allhuman conditions. In the Cohen review, the wholeexceeds the ‘‘sum of the parts.’’

The book, The Child with Multiple Defects, secondedition, [Cohen, 1997], deserves special mention.This is a text which lays out all of the tenets andprinciples in our knowledge of multiple congenitaldefects. It is likely the most recent and definitivework on the epistemology of patterns of malforma-tion in humans. We consider it recommended and

necessary reading for all fellows in medical geneticsand likely needs to be reread by all of those in ourfield as we approach these challenging times ofcorrelating molecular findings with phenotypes, andmaking sense of it all.

Fifty-nine articles included in this Special Issuecover a broad range of phenotypes in the field anddisplay the various scientific interests of Dr. Cohenduring his illustrious (and ongoing) career. The firstgroup of articles comprise overviews of topics indevelopment and genetics. The articles in thecategories of Teratology, Overgrowth, Vascular,Bone, Limb, and Craniofacial include clinicalresearch and observations, in areas where Dr. Cohenhas made significant contributions himself to theirscholarship. Other articles address timely themes inthe field: Chromosomal Disorders, Embryology, andthe Management of Genetic Disorders, all represent-ing his varied expertise.

The Festschrift symposium held for Dr. M. MichaelCohen Jr. in March 2007 and this Special Issue wouldnot have occurred without the efforts of a number ofpeople. We acknowledge the hard work andorganization of Leslie Zaricor Carey and StevenWeist needed for the symposium and the festivitiesthat followed. Michael Weston of John Wiley & Sonsprovided ongoing resources from the Publisher todefer some of the cost of the symposium andChristopher Sannella, valued Production Editor atJohn Wiley & Sons, orchestrated the extra efforts toproduce this Special Issue. And, neither the sympo-sium nor this Issue would have occurred without thevaluable support and remarkable efforts of FelizMartinez, Administrative Assistant of the AmericanJournal of Medical Genetics, and Margaret ‘‘Meg’’Weist, Managing Editor of the Journal. We gratefullyacknowledge their particular contributions to thisSpecial Issue.

REFERENCES

Cohen MM Jr. 1988. Understanding Proteus syndrome, unmask-ing the elephant man, and stemming elephant fever. Neuro-fibromatosis 1:260–280.

Cohen MM Jr. 1997. The child with multiple birth defects. 2ndedition. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.

FIG. 1. M. Michael Cohen Jr. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue,which is available at www.interscience.wiley.com.]

2852 CAREY AND ERICKSON

American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A: DOI 10.1002/ajmg.a