Peter Cohen Charitable Trust donates £12, 000 to medical research

The George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre (GA-CDRC), a unit of the Caribbean Institute of Health Research (CAIHR), has welcomed a donation of 12, 000 Pound Sterling from the Peter Cohen Charitable Trust.
Benefactor Peter Cohen presented the cheque to the director of the GA-CDRC, Professor Simon Anderson last month when he (Cohen) was attending the induction of the Principal of Cave Hill Campus and former Director of the GA-CDRC, Professor Clive Landis.

“This donation continues the support of my late father Edmund Cohen for the Edmund Cohen Laboratory, part of the (George Alleyne) Chronic Disease Research Centre, attached to The University of the West Indies.

“It represents both 2021 and 2022; the 2021 donation being late due to COVID-19 and 2022 being early,” Cohen stated.
The Edmund Cohen Vascular Research Laboratory was opened on March 31st 2004, as an annexe to the GA-CDRC. Its main research interest is the role of inflammation in wound healing, such as diabetic foot, and recovery from surgery. It also coordinates Caribbean-wide diagnostic training workshops and collaborates with external agencies to raise the standards of laboratories in the region.

Professor Anderson noted that the continued support from the Cohen Charitable Foundation has been important to the work of the lab, particularly in the areas of training and development, as well as for significant clinical studies which have been undertaken over the years.

He is also looking forward to the day when the GA-CDRC will house a fully developed laboratory.

“The lab was established as a temporary tool for work. There has always been the hope for a more permanent physical structure on the grounds of the GA-CDRC, supported by the university and donors like the Cohen Charitable Foundation. The donations from Mr Cohen continue to facilitate capacity building and the hope of a prominent and active laboratory that stands as an important resource for the community,” Professor Anderson said.

The GA-CDRC was founded in 1992 by Professor Sir Henry Fraser, then Dean of the School of Clinical Medicine and Research at the UWI Cave Hill Campus, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in response to the epidemic of chronic diseases in the Caribbean.

In April 2017, the Centre was renamed in honour of Professor Emeritus Sir George Alleyne, the former Chancellor of The University of the West Indies and a former Director-General of the Pan American Health Organization.