After 20 years of dedicated service to UF and our college, Donald Cohen, D.M.D., M.B.A., M.S., is retiring on September 8, 2022.
Cohen is a professor and the chair of the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences, which includes the divisions of Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology, Oral Medicine, and Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology, and related clinics that offer services for patients and for practitioners.
“During his time at our college, Dr. Cohen has made an enormous impact on the growth and services offered by the department and the oral pathology laboratory, almost quadrupling the number of specimens processed annually. The UF Oral Pathology Biopsy Service is now the second largest overall and the largest dental school-based service in the U.S.,” said A. Isabel Garcia, D.D.S., M.S., dean.
“I know you all join me in wishing Dr. Cohen a wonderful retirement and share my deep gratitude for the years he has contributed to the excellence of our teaching, research and service missions,” Garcia said.
Cohen earned his bachelor’s degree from City College of New York in 1969; his dental degree from Washington University School of Dental Medicine in 1973 and continued his training in oral pathology at Temple University School of Dentistry where he earned a master’s in oral biology and a certificate in oral pathology in 1992. He graduated summa cum laude with a master’s in business administration from the University of Nebraska. Following that, Cohen was awarded a Robert Woods Johnson Faculty Fellowship in Health Care Outcomes and Quality. He is the only DMD/DDS to receive this specific fellowship.
Cohen served as the residency director of the Oral Pathology Program, division director of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology, and acting chair and chair of Oral Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences.
He also teaches predoctoral students and residents, provides care for patients, and has maintained focus on his own research while also mentoring other faculty, students, and residents in their research endeavors; he has published 180 scientific articles in the peer-reviewed literature.
He is a sought-after speaker and has given hundreds of lectures on the topics of oral medicine and oral pathology at various state, regional and national meetings. He has also served as a consultant to Proctor & Gamble, Ameritas Life Insurance, Delta Dental and most recently to Merck & Co. on the topic of osteonecrosis of the jaws from oral bisphosphonates.