Allison Cohen

Allison Cohen was raised in Palm Harbor, Florida, and is in her third year at Barnard College/ Columbia University, pursuing a combined major in Biology and Visual Arts. Her scientific interests include cell biology and microbiology. She currently works part-time in the Jia lab at Columbia University investigating the molecular mechanisms of telomere heterochromatic silencing in the fission yeast model system, and participated in the Amgen Scholars Program the summer of 2014. She has also participated in novel virus discovery projects at the Breitbart lab at the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science, and has presented her work at the South Florida branch meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. She has additional experience studying soil microbiology at the McGuire microbial ecology lab at Barnard College.

She is active in the arts community at Columbia, and is the chief illustrator for the Columbia Science Review, a student run publication that aims to clearly communicate important scientific news to the broader Columbia community. Her artwork has been featured on several covers of the magazine. Additionally, she is the assistant art director of the Barnard Bulletin, a more general student run publication, and contributes illustrations to that publication as well. Last year, she was employed by a prominent jewelry designer, Monika Knusson, to design and paint life-size human figures on which to display her jewelry for a fashion week gallery show. She has also volunteered in arts education programs at local public elementary schools.
   
    

Her hobbies include running, sailing, swimming, waterskiing, SCUBA diving (NAUI certified Master Scuba Diver), and exploring NYC's museums and galleries.