Jake Cohen

Jake Cohen of Brookline, Massachusetts worked with the Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School to assist with the prevention of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), through free health screenings and awareness workshops at Brookline High School.

Cohen discovered he had Crohn’s disease while a junior in high school and spent a year coping with the diagnosis. After wrestling with Crohn’s for a year, he returned to school passionate about helping patients with chronic diseases and decided to devoted himself to working with the Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program (KDSAP).

Cohen became the president of his school’s KDSAP chapter. In addition, he initiated and worked with the central chapter, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, to organize a health conference to help patients suffering with kidney disease understand how to manage their disease.

The conference, the Boston Kidney Health Series 2012, made all of this information accessible in one place. Additionally, due to the success of the first event, KDSAP continues to hold an annual Boston Kidney Health Series each year.