Melvin Cohn (1922 – October 23, 2018) was an American immunologist who co-founded the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California.
He demonstrated that immunoglobulins and white blood cells interact directly with pathogens to protect the body from infection, and is considered a pioneer in the research of gene regulation.
[2][3] From 1949 Cohn worked in Paris, France at the Pasteur Institute, conducting research on genes and cells with the French scientist Jacques Monod, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
They struck a friendship as Cohn drove Salk around the San Francisco Bay Area looking at potential sites.
[2] In 1961,[1] when Salk decided to build his institute in La Jolla in Southern California, he invited Cohn and Renato Dulbecco to serve as co-founders, which they both accepted despite the risks involved in joining a new venture which was still short of money.