Brookdale Senior Living associates were recently treated to an inside look at what it’s like to attend a Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden when resident Jan Jordan shared photographs and stories from her trip in 1986. Jan accompanied her late husband, Dr. Stanley Cohen, who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine that year.
Dr. Cohen (November 17, 1922 – February 5, 2020) was a biochemist who shared the prize for the isolation of nerve growth factor and the discovery of epidermal growth factor. This work has led to the development of a growing number of drugs to fight cancer. He won a number of other significant awards, including the President’s National Medal of Science, and was inducted into the Tennessee Healthcare Hall of Fame in 2016.
At this Lunch & Learn session hosted by Brookdale CEO Cindy Baier, Jan shared with the group (many of whom attended virtually) that the occasion included a number of events filled with emotion as well as great visual impact. Her slide show included a video of the Swedish royal family assembling on stage with that year’s Nobel laureates and photos from a remarkable gala dinner. She also shared a brief history of the development of the Nobel Prize and talked about her late husband’s work.
Jan and Stanley were residents of a Brookdale community in the Nashville, Tenn., area for a number of years and Jan continues to call Brookdale home.
