He is currently Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of Populations at the Rockefeller University in New York City and at the Earth Institute of Columbia University, where he holds a joint appointment in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, and the School of International and Public Affairs.
He served as a Special Master and member of the Selection Panel in the silicone gel breast implant products liability litigation before the United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama (Southern Division) in 1996; and as a U.S. Federal Court-appointed neutral expert (under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 706) for projection of asbestos-related claims against the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, in the combined asbestos litigation in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, 1991–1995.
He was a consultant to the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, New York, on the epidemiology of asbestos-related diseases from 1982 to 1986.
Cohen was a member of the Board of Directors of The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, 2000–2009, during which he co-chaired the Science Council, 2005–2009.
Their son is Adam Cohen, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and of Physics at Harvard University.