Featured Scholar:
Steven Cohen
2003 - 2004 University Scholar
Mentor: John Hall
Warrington College of Business
Since losing a close friend to leukemia in 10th grade, Steven
Cohen has been making a difference in the world. As a USP scholar, he
is working to make oral anti-cancer drugs available to all patients.
A senior majoring in business administration, Cohen is the founder and
national chair of Friends for Life of America, the largest international
student organization providing direct support to pediatric cancer patients
and their families. He established the group at his high school, University
School at Nova Southeastern University in Pembroke Pines, Florida, after
a six-year-old friend of the family, Daniel Heidenberg, lost his battle
with leukemia in December 1996. “I think he inspired me to be proactive
and make a difference,” Cohen says.
With more than 35 participating schools, including UF and FSU, the organization
attempts to lift the spirits of pediatric patients by giving them teddy
bears, sending them cards during the holidays, and painting cheerful murals
in pediatric hospitals. It raises support for the cause by organizing
an annual 5K run and hosting an annual medical forum. “We do programs
like this because I think it is important for the student population to
show that it cares,” Cohen says. “My research is all part
of a larger goal that I feel very strongly about that focuses on the impact
students can make.”
As a University Scholar, Cohen conducted a public policy analysis showing
the benefits of extending oral anti-cancer drugs to patients on Medicare.
The US Medicare system does not currently cover the costs of many lifesaving
oral anti-cancer treatments. Cohen’s research analysis shows that
the benefits of extending these medications to Medicare patients outweigh
the costs.
“I opened up the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel one day and
read about an elderly man in south Florida who couldn’t afford Gleevec,
for chronic myelogenous leukemia,” he says. “It’s very
expensive, and he had to sell all of his personal assets to be able to
qualify for financial assistance so that he could get this lifesaving
drug. This is a guy who had worked all his life and had to get rid of
his life savings so that he could afford a drug he needed to live. That’s
just not acceptable.”
Cohen sent a copy of his analysis to Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, and Sen.
Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, who are proponents of adding an oral anti-cancer
provision to current Medicare coverage. “My research shows that
it is really in the government’s best interest to extend these drugs
to Medicare patients,” he says. “It will actually save money
in the long run.”
Cohen was recently named one of 20 students nationally to the 2004 College
Academic All-Stars First Team, awarded by USA Today. He and political
science major Anup Patel this year became the first students from the
University of Florida ever to win the prestigious award. Cohen also has
been recognized with Governor Jeb Bush’s Points of Light Award and
was named the 2001 UF Student Volunteer of the Year.
“Awards are nice,” Cohen says. “But I think they serve
as motivators. As long as you don’t do it for the recognition, but
let the recognition inspire you to do more, then it is all worth it.”
Cohen has served on the UF Sesquicentennial Committee, the Office of Community
Service’s advisory committee, and theWarrington College of Business
Administration Undergraduate Committee. He also has served as an associate
justice in the Student Honor Court, executive vice president of the Jewish
student organization Koach, and as director of honorary members for Golden
Key International Honor Society.
During the summer of 2003, Cohen interned at Bank of America in Charlotte,
NC. He has accepted a full-time position with the company and plans to
start in July, after graduating from UF in May. Later, he hopes to pursue
a doctoral degree in management and policy and become a health administrator.
"What I would really like to do is be an administrator at
a hospital,”
he says. “But I don’t want to sit in an office all day. I
want to go and visit patients and run a hospital that is not only profitable,
but gives back some of that money to take care of the patients that
can’t
afford treatment. I want my hospital to be known as the hospital that
accepts patients no matter their financial condition."
Back to the Journal of Undergraduate Research
