[5] Jewel's father, Frank, was the first Black person to graduate with a Doctor of Medicine from Cornell University, becoming a physician specializing in dermatology.

Although she anticipated becoming a physical education teacher, her interest in science solidified during her sophomore year of high school whilst looking through a microscope in biology class.

[12] After receiving her Ph.D, Cobb became a biology teaching fellow at New York University while also working for the National Cancer Institute at Harlem Hospital (1950-1952).

[4] Shortly thereafter, Cobb returned to New York, serving as an assistant professor for NYU's post graduate medical school (1955–60), while also working as a visiting lecturer at Hunter College (1956–57).

[5] Cobb also established a Fifth Year Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program, which provided financial assistance and educational opportunities for minority students at the College who wanted to pursue careers in medicine or dentistry.

[14] While in Connecticut, Dr. Cobb also served as a member of the Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London,[16] in addition to being elected Director of the American Council on Education, (1973-1976).

[5] While a graduate student, Cobb spent the summer of 1949 as an independent investigator at the Marine Biological Laboratory, where she studied the inhibition of cell division in sea urchin (Arbacia) eggs.

This was an early foray into a research interest Cobb would develop extensively in later years: how hormones, ultraviolet light and chemotherapeutic drugs can cause changes in cell division.

[14] While at Douglass, Cobb (alongside nine other Americans) was selected by the Rockefeller Foundation to participate in a global conference in Italy concerning the future of higher education for women.

[18] Additionally, in April 1978, Cobb was nominated by President Carter as a member of the Board of Foreign Scholarships, best known as the organization responsible for determining Fulbright eligibility.

[19] At Fullerton, some faculty members did not share Cobb's interests in research and rebuilding, holding that the primary mission of the college was to teach.

[21][22] In response to her departure, Julian Foster, a campus leader and prominent political scientist, expressed Cobb's emphasis on research and scholarship to be her most important contribution to Cal State Fullerton.

In 2001, Cobb became the principal investigator for Science Technology Engineering Program (STEP) Up for Youth—ASCEND project at California State University, Los Angeles.

[25] Cobb's research included work on the relationship between melanin and skin damage, and on the effects of hormones, ultraviolet light, and chemotherapy agents on cell division.

[11] She received a $5,000 grant from the American Cancer Society to continue her research in"Direct Hormone Action to Human and Mouse Melanomas in Tissue Culture.

[14] Cobb was part of the United States International Cancer congresses in London (1958) and Moscow (1962) and served on the advisory board to Mohegan Community College.

She was awarded the National Institute of Health Fellowship for $68,000, where she spent seven months in Naples, Italy continuing cell growth research at the International Laboratory of Genetics and Biophysics.

[7] Throughout her career, she collaborated with other notable researchers, including oncologist Jane C. Wright, Grace Antikajian, and Dorothy Walker Jones.

The museum's exhibition hoped to increase minority representation in the sciences by showcasing the accomplishments of people of color, including several of Cobb's findings.