Leah Elizabeth Cowen is a Canadian mycologist and the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives at the University of Toronto.
[1] During this time, she received a postgraduate scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute.
[3] While serving in this role, her laboratory showed that growth of the Candida albicans fungus was tied to the function of heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90).
[5] As a CRC, Cowen began using specialized genomics technology to examine how fungal pathogens become resistant to drugs and cause human disease.
[6] She also became the co-director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research program "Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities" and was the co-founder and chief scientific officer of biotechnology firm Bright Angel Therapeutics.