Dr. Cohen received his Doctor of Medicine with honors, from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. He completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine, and a fellowship in Rheumatology at UT Southwestern/St. Paul University Hospital. His research group has participated in the development of nearly all the biologic therapies and targeted synthetic Dmards developed for inflammatory arthritis  in the last 23 years.

He has been involved in training of medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows. He is a past president of the American College of Rheumatology Research Foundation and the American College of Rheumatology  and was honored in 2016 with the designation of Master by the American College of Rheumatology. In 2021 he was awarded the ACR Presidential Gold Medal in recognition of outstanding achievements in rheumatology over an entire career.