David J. Cohen, M.D., M.Sc.

Professor, Missouri Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Clinical Research at MAHI
Department(s) of Internal Medicine
Section: Cardiovascular Disease
Saint Luke's Hospital
816-932-4581
dcohen@saint-lukes.org
Education and Background

M.D. - Harvard Medical School
Residency - Internal Medicine - Brigham and Women's Hospital
Fellowship - Interventional Cardiology - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Meet David Cohen
Biography

Dr. Cohen is currently Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Director of Cardiovascular Research at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute.  In addition, he is Medical Director of the Medical Economics and Technology Assessment Group at Mid America Heart Institute.  He was previously Associate Director of Interventional Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he was also Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Economics and Quality of Life Research at the Harvard Clinical Research Institute.

Dr. Cohen earned his medical degree at Harvard Medical School and his master’s degree in health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health.  He did his clinical training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and was a clinical and research fellow in cardiology at Beth Israel Hospital for five years. He is board certified in internal medicine, adult cardiology, and interventional cardiology and his practice is largely related to interventional cardiology including cardiac catheterization, percutaneous coronary intervention, and treatment of valvular heart disease including balloon valvuloplasty and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Dr. Cohen’s research focuses on the application of formal cost-effectiveness methodology to novel interventions for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, the extension of traditional cardiovascular outcomes research to include collection of patient-centered outcomes among patients undergoing treatment for cardiovascular disease, the development and evaluation of instruments for evaluating health status and preference among patients with cardiovascular disease.  He is also active in research to determine the short- and long-term outcomes of new devices for percutaneous coronary revascularization and identifying the optimal target populations and techniques for these devices.

Dr. Cohen has published more than 250 original articles in leading journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JAMA, Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the American Journal of Cardiology, American Heart Journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Health Policy. He has also authored numerous book chapters and review articles on subjects such as the cost-effectiveness of interventional cardiology, coronary stenting, and programs to lower serum cholesterol.  Dr. Cohen serves on the editorial board for the American Heart Journal, JACC Interventions, and Circulation and reviews for the American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Medical Decision Making.

Specialties and Research/Medical Interests

Interventional cardiology, Transcatheter aortic valve replacement, Cardiovascular outcomes research

Research Summary

Dr. Cohen is the Medical Director of the the Health Economics and Technology Assessment (HETA) group of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. This is a multidisciplinary research group that includes health economists, biostatisicians, decision analyst/modelers, and clinical scientists with a broad aim of improving health care by applying formal cost-effectiveness methodology to novel interventions for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease.  Currently, these efforts include a diverse range of projects including development of computer-based simulation models to aid in identifying appropriate targets for new technologies as well as primary economic data collection alongside pivotal clinical trials to evaluate cost-effectiveness of new therapeutic modalities (e.g., stents, glycoprotein 2b/3a blockers, vascular brachytherapy, etc.).

An additional focus of our research is in the extension of traditional cardiovascular outcomes research by collection of patient-centered outcomes (health status, quality of life) among patients undergoing treatment for cardiovascular disease.  These efforts are aimed at identifying alternative treatments or patterns of care that are associated with improved long-term quality of life for patients with coronary heart disease, structural/valvular heart disease, as well as cardiac arrhythmias.  Through primary data collection in a variety of clinical trial and practice settings, these data are valuable to patients, clinicians, and policy-makers who need to better  understand the relationship between traditional “hard” clinical outcomes and overall quality of life among patients with cardiovascular disease.

Finally, we have had a longstanding interest in understanding the short- and long-term outcomes of new devices for percutaneous management of coronary artery disease and valvular heart disease and identifying the optimal target populations and techniques for these devices

Selected Publications

Cohen DJ, Kuntz RE, Gordon SPF, Piana RN, Safian RD, McKay RG, Baim DS, Grossman W, Diver DJ.  Predictors of long-term outcome after percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty.  N Engl J Med 1992; 327: 1329-35.

Cohen DJ, Breall JA, Ho KKL, Kuntz RE, Goldman L, Baim DS, Weinstein MC.  Evaluating the potential cost-effectiveness of stenting as a treatment for symptomatic single-vessel coronary disease: Use of a decision-analytic model.  Circulation 1994;89:1859-1874.

Cohen DJ, Bakhai A, Shi C, Githiora L, Lavelle T, Berezin RH, Leon MB, Moses JW, Carrozza JP, Zidar JP, Kuntz RE.  Cost-effectiveness of sirolimus-eluting stents for treatment of complex coronary stenoses: Results from the SIRIUS trial.  Circulation 2004;110:508-514.

Ryan JW, Peterson ED, Chen AY, Roe MT, Ohman EM, Cannon CP, Berger PB, Saucedo JF, DeLong ER, Normand SL, Pollack CV, Cohen DJ.  Optimal timing of intervention in non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndromes: Insights from the CRUSADE Registry.  Circulation2005;112:3049-57.

Ryan J, Linde-Zwirble W, Engelhart L, Cooper L, Cohen DJ.  Temporal trends in coronary revascularization procedures, outcomes, and costs in the bare metal stent and drug-eluting stent eras: Results from the US Medicare Program.  Circulation 2009;119:952-61.

Mahoney EM, Wang K, Arnold SV, Proskorovsky I, Wiviott S, Antman E, Braunwald E, Cohen DJ.  Cost-effectiveness of prasugrel versus clopidogrel in patients with acute coronary syndromes and planned PCI:  Results from the TRITON-TIMI 38 trial.  Circulation 2010;71-79.

Cohen DJ, Van Hout B, Serruys PW, Mohr FW, Macaya C, den Jeijer P, Vrakking MM, Wang K, Mahoney EM, Audi S, Leadley K, Dawkins KD, Kappetein AP on behalf of the SYNTAX Investigators.  Quality of life after PCI with drug-eluting stents or coronary-artery bypass surgery.  N Engl J Med 2011;364;1016-26.

Venkitachalam L, Lei Y, Stolker JM, Mahoney EM, Amin AP, Lindsey JB, Kennedy KF, Pencina MJ, Lopez JJ, Kleiman NS, Cohen DJ.  Clinical and economic outcomes of liberal vs. selective drug-eluting stent use:  Insights from temporal analysis of the multicenter EVENT registry. Circulation2011;124:1028-37.

Venkitachalam L, Lei Y, Magnuson EA, Chan PS, Stolker JM, Kennedy KF, Kleiman NS, Cohen DJ.  Survival benefit with drug-eluting stents in observational studies: Fact or artifact?  Circulation: Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2011;587-94.

Reynolds MR, Magnuson EA, Wang K, Lei Y, Vilain K, Walczak J, Kodali SK, Lasala JM, O’Neill WW, Davidson CJ, Smith CR, Leon MB, Cohen DJ.

Cost effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve replacement compared with standard care among inoperable patients with severe aortic stenosis: Results from the PARTNER trial (Cohort B).Circulation 2012;125:1102-9.

Arnold SV, Magnuson EA, Wang K, Serruys PW, Kappetein AP, Mohr FW, Cohen DJ.  Do differences in repeat revascularization explain the antianginal benefits of bypass surgery vs. percutaneous coronary intervention?  Implications for future treatment comparisons.  Circulation: Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2012;5:267-75

Reynolds MR, Magnuson EA, Lei Y, Wang K, Vilain K, Li H, Walczak J, Pinto DS, Thourani VH, Svennson LG, Mack MJ, Miller DC, Satler LE, Bavaria J, Smith CR, Leon MB, Cohen DJ.  Cost-effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve replacement compared with surgical aortic valve replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis: Results from the PARTNER Trial (Cohort A).  J Am Coll Cardiol 2012 (in press).

Magnuson EA, Farkouh ME, Fuster V, Wang K, Vilain K, Li H, Appelwick J, Muratov V, Sleeper LA, Boineau R, Abdallah M, Cohen DJ. Cost-Effectiveness of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Drug Eluting Stents versus Bypass Surgery for Patients with Diabetes and Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease:  Results from the FREEDOM Trial. Circulation 2013 (in press).