By Duke Medicine News and Communications

Harvey Jay Cohen, M.D., has been named interim chair of the Department of Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine. His appointment follows the announcement last week that current chair Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., has accepted the position of Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Dean of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

Cohen's appointment was announced by Victor J. Dzau, M.D., chancellor for health affairs and president/CEO of Duke University Health System, and R. Sanders Williams, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. The pair also announced that discussions will begin immediately with the department to outline the search process for a new chair.

Dzau, who previously served as chair of the departments of medicine at both Stanford and Harvard medical schools, expressed his gratitude to Cohen for agreeing to serve as interim chair.

"We are very fortunate to have in Dr. Cohen a highly respected leader who is able to guide the Department of Medicine at this time of transition," said Dzau. "In addition to his clinical and scientific achievements, Harvey is a gifted teacher who is revered by students, residents and faculty across the medical school."

Cohen has served as vice chair of the Department of Medicine for faculty development and academic affairs since 2003. He helped to establish Duke's Division of Geriatric Medicine in the 1970s and was the architect of Duke's renowned fellowship program in Geriatric Medicine. He is professor of Medicine and chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine, as well as director of Duke's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. He also directs the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

After medical school, Cohen came to Duke for a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology/oncology. He specialized in hematology and oncology in the elderly and became one of the world's leading experts in the field, publishing more than 250 articles and book chapters. He served as chairman of the National Institute of Aging's Board of Scientific Counselors from 1999-2003 and is currently president of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology.

Duke's program in Internal Medicine, which has been consistently recognized as one of the best in the nation, ranked 4th nationally in U.S. News and World Report's 2005 rankings of the best medical schools. Under Cohen's leadership, Duke's program in Geriatric Medicine is also ranked 4th in the nation in the U.S. News rankings.