Cohen, Jon 1958-

PERSONAL: Born 1958; married; wife's name Shannon (a television documentary producer); children: three. Education: University of California, San Diego, B.A., 1981.

ADDRESSES: Home—Cardiff, CA. Agent—Gail Ross, Gail Ross Literary Agency, 1666 Connecticut Ave. NW, Ste. 500, Washington, DC 20009. E-mail—cohenj@ix.netcom.com.

CAREER: Writer. City Paper, Washington, DC, senior editor, 1986–90.

AWARDS, HONORS: Sloan Foundation grant, 1998; International Health Reporting Award, Pan American Health Organization, for an article published in Science magazine.

WRITINGS:

Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, Norton (New York, NY), 2001.

Coming to Term: Uncovering the Truth about Miscarriage, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2005.

Contributor of articles to magazines and newspapers, including New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Discover, New York Times, Washington Post, Slate, Smithsonian, New Republic, Surfer, Talk, Science, and Technology Review.

SIDELIGHTS: Jon Cohen is a science writer whose work has appeared in various periodicals, including Science and Talk magazines, among others. In Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, he examines the history of AIDS vaccine research. He had originally intended to cover events during only one year of research, but realized that because of low funds, disorganization, the lack of leadership, and the lack of a sense of urgency about the AIDS epidemic, it may take scientists a year simply to raise enough money to begin doing research. Cohen discusses how many of the major drug companies have ceased producing vaccines because of the expense and liability issues involved, leaving only limited government funding available to researchers. He also considers how the lack of funds has often prevented truly innovative research, at the same time promoting nonproductive rivalries among scientists who must compete for funding. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the book "an insightful glimpse of a fractured but important process," and remarked that it might spur researchers and activists to work more closely together against the disease. In the Washington Post, Jeffrey L. Reynolds remarked that it "offers a stinging indictment of virtually everyone involved in AIDS research, from bumbling government bureaucrats to ego-driven scientists and profit-driven pharmaceutical companies." In addition, Reynolds noted, AIDS activists also come under fire for ignoring the need for vaccines and focusing almost exclusively on issues related to AIDS treatment.

Cohen offers suggestions to improve work on AIDS vaccines. He suggests a one billion dollar fund in connection with the National Institutes of Health, which would conduct a large trial using monkeys, in order to compare a variety of vaccines. The most successful vaccines, he argues, could then be tested in human subjects.

Cohen turns to another medical issue in his 2005 book, Coming to Term: Uncovering the Truth about Miscarriage, a work inspired by his own experiences. He and his wife tried to have their second child when in their late thirties, and they experienced four successive miscarriages. In his study, Cohen examines the biological and medical aspects of miscarriage, from egg production to the problems with chromosomal numbers and to interventions designed to aid women in carrying their babies to full term. He also interviewed over a hundred couples that had experienced recurrent miscarriage to investigate the emotional aspects of the tragic event. Critical response was positive for this work. A Publishers Weekly reviewer, for example, found the writing "impressively sensitive and bal-anced," and the overall study "enlightening and comprehensive." Similarly, a critic for Kirkus Reviews praised the "deft melding" of science with personal anecdote, and Booklist reviewer Donna Chavez called the same work a "sensitively written, reader-friendly book." Cohen does offer solace for couples going through successive miscarriages. He points out that statistics show that women who have had three or more consecutive miscarriages carry their next pregnancy to term in seventy percent of the cases. Such was the case for Cohen and his wife, who, after the fourth miscarriage, had two baby boys.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2005, Donna Chavez, review of Coming to Term: Uncovering the Truth about Miscarriage, p. 796.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2004, review of Coming to Term, p. 992.

Library Journal, December 1, 2004, Rita Hoots, review of Coming to Term, p. 148.

Newsweek, February 27, 2005, Karen Springen, "The Miscarriage Maze," review of Coming to Term, 63.

Publishers Weekly, December 18, 2000, review of Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, p. 68; November 22, 2004, review of Coming to Term, p. 51.

Washington Post Book World, February 11, 2001, Jeffrey L. Reynolds, review of Shots in the Dark, p. 9.

ONLINE

Black Star Review, http://www.blackstarreview.com/ (February 7, 2006), Paul Taylor, review of Shots in the Dark.

Body, http://www.thebody.com/ (June 29, 2001), Bruce Mirken, "AIDS Vaccines and Activism: An Interview with Jon Cohen."