Dr Donna Cohen

Research and Project Officer, BSc (Hons), PhD, MPPM

Dr Donna Cohen has over 40 years of experience in scientific research, policy development and implementation, project design and implementation, strategic planning, stakeholder consultation and workshop facilitation.

She obtained her PhD at the Australian National University (ANU) and began her career as a researcher in the biomedical sciences, initially at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in the US and subsequently as an ARC QEII Fellow at the ANU.

In 1998, after an exceptional scientific career with publications in Science, Nature and Cell, she changed direction. She completed her masters in public policy and management and coordinated the human ethics committee in the Victorian Department of Health, tackling topics such as human stem cells and biotechnology more broadly.

From 2004–2008, Donna was Director of the Strategic Projects Development Unit in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. Her team conducted more than fifty projects, including administrative reviews of faculty portfolios, needs analyses, gap analyses, business case development and risk management planning, stakeholder consultations, literature reviews and project management. Through this work, Donna demonstrated a very high capacity for assimilating essential concepts in unfamiliar subject areas, enabling her to design and conduct projects in virtually any field.

Since 2008, Donna has worked as an independent consultant on a broad range of projects, mainly in the health and higher education sectors. She drove the development of the Best Practice Clinical Learning Environments (BPCLE) Framework and its online implementation tool, as well as a sophisticated web-based tool for organisational business process review and quality improvement. More recently Donna assisted in the development of RF safety codes for both the ABC and FreeTV Australia, as well as an investigation of hand SAR compliance from mobile phone parameters.

Journal papers

Cohen, D.R. (2000). Expression and purification of histidine-tagged transcription factors. In Methods in Molecular Biology: Eukaryotic Promoter Analysis, M.J. Tymms editor, Humana Press Inc., Totowa NJ, pp203-225.Curtin, A.G., V. Anderson, F. Brockhus, and D.R. Cohen, Novel team-based approach to quality improvement effectively engages staff and reduces adverse events in healthcare settings. BMJ Open Quality, 2020. 9(2): p. 1-9.

Cohen, D.R., et al., Implementation of the Best Practice Clinical Learning Environment Framework: A case study for improving learning in the clinical setting using a novel quality improvement approach. Management in Healthcare, 2018. 3(1): p. 24-40.

Cohen, D.R., P.J. Cohen, and V. Anderson, Map-enabled experiential review: A novel approach to engaging healthcare staff in quality improvement. Management in Healthcare, 2018. 3(2): p. 187-198.

Furey, C. and Cohen, D.R. (2005). “Ethics, Science and Society”: A program to introduce secondary students to ethical concepts and issues. In Alliance (The Journal of the Alliance of Girls Schools), 31: 18-19.

McHenry, J.Z., Leon, A., Matthaei, K.I. and Cohen, D.R. (1998). Overexpression of fra-2 in transgenic mice perturbs normal eye development. Oncogene. 17: 1131-1140.

Foletta, V.C., Segal, D.H. and Cohen, D.R. (1998). Transcriptional regulation in the immune system: all roads lead to AP-1. Leukocyte Biol.63: 139-152.

Ng, K.W., Ridgway, P., Cohen, D.R. and Tremethick, D.J. (1997). The binding of a single Fos/Jun heterodimer can completely disrupt the structure of a nucleosome. EMBO J.16: 2072-2085.

Poirier, C., Lalouette, A., Foletta, V.C., Cohen, D.R. and Guénet, J.-L. (1997). The gene encoding the Fos-related antigen 2 (Fra2) maps to mouse chromosome 5. Mammalian Genome8:223

Autelitano, D.J. and Cohen, D.R. (1996). CRF stimulates expression of multiple fosand jun related genes in the AtT-20 corticoptrope cell. Cell. Endocrinol. 119: 25-35

Jeske, Y.W.A., Mishina, Y., Cohen D.R., Behringer R.R. and Koopman, P. (1996). Analysis of the role of Amhand Fra-1 in the SRY regulatory pathway. Reprod. and Development. 44: 153-158.

Foletta, V.C., Sonobe, M.H., Suzuki, T., Endo, T., Iba, H., and Cohen, D.R. (1994). Cloning and characterisation of the mouse fra-2 gene. Oncogene, 9: 3305-3311.

Cohen, D.R., Sinclair, A.H. and McGovern, J.D. (1994). SRY protein enhances transcription of Fos-related antigen-1 promoter constructs. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 91: 4372-4376.

Vidovic, M., Cohen, D. and Hill, C.E. (1994). Identification of alpha-2 adrenergic receptor gene expression in sympathetic neurones using polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridisation. Brain Res., 22: 49-56.

Haig, D.M., Huntley, J.F., MacKellar, A., Newlands, G.F.J., Inglis, L., Sangha, R., Cohen, D.R., Hapel, A.J., Galli, S.J. and Miller, H.R.P. (1994). Effects of stem cell factor (kit ligand) and Interleukin-3 on the growth and serine proteinase expression of rat bone marrow-derived or serosal mast cells. Blood, 83: 72-83.

Vandermark, S.E., Cohen, D.R., Janssens, P., Lau, Y.C. and Bradley, M.P. (1993). Germ cell specific gene expression in a seasonal breeder: the European red fox Vulpesvulpes. In Mammalian Sex Chromosomes and Sex-Determining Genes, Harwood.

Cohen, D.R., Vandermark, S.E., McGovern, J.D. and Bradley, M.P. (1993). Transcriptional regulation in the testis: A role for transcription factor AP-1 at various stages of spermatogenesis. Oncogene8:443-455.

Curran, T., Abate, C., Cohen, D.R., Macgregor, P.F., Rauscher III, F.J., Sonnenberg, J.L., Connor, J.A. and Morgan, J.I. (1990). Inducible proto-oncogene transcription factors: third messengers in the brain? Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, LV, pp 225-234.

Shin, C., McNamara, J.O., Morgan, J.I., Curran, T. and Cohen, D.R. (1990). Induction of c‑fosmRNA expression by afterdischarge in the hippocampus of naive and kindled rats. Neurochemistry 55:1050-1055.

Guis, D., Cao, X., Rauscher III, F. J., Cohen, D. R., Curran, T. and Sukhatme, V., P. (1990). Transcriptional activation and repression by Fos are independent functions: the C‑terminus represses immediate‑early gene expression via CArG elements. Cell. Biol. 10:4243-4255.

Cohen, D.R. and Curran, T. (1990). Analysis of dimerization and DNA binding functions in Fos and Jun by domain-swapping: involvement of residues outside of the leucine zipper/basic region. Oncogene5:929‑939.

Cohen, D.R., Ferreira, P.C.P., Gentz, R., Franza Jr., B.R. and Curran, T. (1989) The product of a fos‑related gene fra‑1 binds cooperatively to the AP‑1 site with Jun: transcription factor AP‑1 is comprised of multiple protein complexes. Genes and Devel. 3:173‑184.

Cohen, D.R. and Curran, T. (1989). The structure and function of the fosproto‑oncogene. In: Critical Reviews in Oncogenesis, CRC Press Inc., Vol. 1, pp. 65‑88.

Curran, T., Rauscher III, F.J., Cohen, D.R. and Franza Jr., B.R. (1988). Beyond the second messenger: oncogenes and transcription factors. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, LIII, pp. 769‑777.

Haig, D.M., McMenamin, C., Redmond, J., Brown, D., Young, I.G., Cohen, D.R. and Hapel, A.J. (1988). Rat IL-3 stimulates the growth of rat mucosal mast cells in culture. Immunol65: 205-211.

Rauscher III, F.J. , Cohen, D.R., Curran, T., Bos, T.J., Vogt, P.K., Bohmann, D., Tjian, R. and Franza, B.R. (1988). Fos‑associated protein (p39) is the product of the junproto‑oncogene. Science 240:1010‑1016.

Sukhatme, V.P., Cao, K., Chang, L.C., Tsai‑Morris, C‑H., Stamenkovich, D., Ferreira, P.C.P., Cohen, D. R., Edwards, S.A., Shows, T.B., Curran, T., LeBeau, M.M. and Adamson, E.D. (1988). A zinc finger‑encoding gene coregulated with c‑fosduring growth and differentiation, and after cellular depolarization. Cell 53:37‑43.

Cohen, D.R. and Curran, T. (1988). fra‑1: A serum‑inducible, cellular immediate‑early gene that encodes a Fos‑related antigen. Cell. Biol. 8:2063‑2069.

Cohen, D.R., Morgan, J.I., Hempstead, J.L. and Curran, T. (1988). Rapid induction of proto‑oncogene expression in the central nervous system. UCLA Symposium on Molecular and Cellular Biology, Vol. 67. Mechanisms of Controlof Gene Expression. (Eds. B. Cullen, L.P. Gage, M.A.Q. Siddiqui, A.M. Skalka, H. Weissbach) Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, pp. 327‑332.

Morgan, J.I., Cohen, D.R., Hempstead, J. and Curran, T. (1987). Mapping patterns of c‑fosexpression in the central nervous system after seizure. Science 237:192‑197.

Franza, B.R., Sambucetti, L.C., Cohen, D.R. and Curran, T. (1987). Analysis of Fos protein complexes and Fos‑related antigens by high resolution two‑dimensional gel electrophoresis. Oncogene1:213‑221.

Young, I.G., Campbell, H.D., Ymer, S., Robins, T., Cohen, D.R. and Hapel, A.J. (1987). Molecular biology of Interleukin‑3. In Molecular Basis of Lymphokine Action. (Eds, D.R. Webb, C.W. Pierce and S. Cohen). Humana Press Inc., pp. 283‑294.

Cohen, D.R., Hapel, A.J. and Young, I.G. (1986). Cloning and expression of the rat interleukin‑3 gene. Acids. Res., 14:3641‑3658.

Fung, M.C., Ymer, S., Cohen, D.R., Campbell, H.D. and Young, I.G. (1985). Cloning and expression of the gene for murine Interleukin‑3. In Cellular and Molecular Biology of Lymphokines. Academic Press, Inc., pp. 653‑657.

Hume, D.A., Summers, K.M., Cohen, D.R. and Allan, W. (1985). Regulation of the production of granulocyte‑macrophage colony stimulating factor by macrophage‑like tumor cell lines. FEBS Letters, 180:271‑274.

Fung, M.C., Hapel, A.J., Ymer, S., Cohen, D.R., Johnson, R.M., Campbell, H.D. and Young, I.G. (1984). Molecular cloning of cDNA for murine IL‑3. Nature, 307:233‑237.