Providence Brain Institute
Dr. Stanley Cohan earned medical and doctorate degrees at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and completed a residency in neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, and Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He joined the Georgetown staff as a neurology instructor and, over the next 28 years, rose through the ranks to become professor and chairman of the Department of Neurology.
At Georgetown, Dr. Cohan was an investigator in the original, pivotal trial of beta interferon 1-A, one of the key medications for treating multiple sclerosis. The center was one of only four sites in the United States to evaluate the treatment. Dr. Cohan also ran a large multiple sclerosis practice and conducted investigational work.
A family move in February 2000 brought Dr. Cohan to Oregon, where he joined the medical staff of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. He soon saw the need for a multiple sclerosis treatment center in Portland, and began discussing the concept with Providence Health & Services administrators. In April 2001, Dr. Cohan opened the Pacific Northwest Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Center, which subsequently became Providence Multiple Sclerosis Center.
- At Georgetown University, Dr. Cohan received the Kaiser Permanente Award for Outstanding Teaching.
- He secured a $12 million federal grant for Georgetown University and served as project director, designing a new health care delivery system for Medicare recipients with serious chronic diseases.
- He participated in numerous clinical investigations of stroke treatments, built the experimental stroke lab at Georgetown University, and spent years conducting basic research there.
- He established Providence MS Center, which now cares for more than 700 patients from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Wyoming, California and Montana.
- He was a principal investigator in the Natalizumab trial and is the initiating, main investigator for BEST (Beta-interferon Early Steroid Trial)
- He has begun to develop a regional MS Centers Network in Oregon and Washington
"My goals are twofold: to educate physicians and the public that multiple sclerosis should be treated assertively, and to provide comprehensive care, encompassing the wide range of issues that people with multiple sclerosis face," says Dr. Cohan. "From a broader perspective, I am using my effort, energy and knowledge to create a regional network, assuring that patients receive the highest standard of MS care, regardless of where they are treated."