He has published more than 75 papers and chapters, is the inventor of 85 patents, and the co-founder of Orexigen Therapeutics, a publicly listed (NASDAQ: OREX) San Diego biotech company, where he served as the chief scientific officer until December 2008, when he returned to Monash University.
[5] In 2009 he was awarded the (Australian) Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year[8] and a Pfizer Australia Senior Research Fellowship.
[citation needed] Cowley is a member of the scientific advisory board of The Centre for Obesity Research and Education (CORE), The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, and Gubra ApS, Denmark.
[citation needed] Cowley's greatest research achievements have been to describe the fundamental physiological mechanisms of homeostasis of weight, temperature, blood pressure and heart rate.
He has described the neural mechanisms and circuits that decode the body signals of weight (fat) and glucose stores, which has led to new treatments for both obesity and diabetes.
[9] Cowley established and led a multinational drug target discovery program with a US University and with a global pharmaceutical company, spanning five years.