Created by Woman One at the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership, this scholarship honors Dr. Cohen’s lifelong commitment to shared leadership among women and men, while also elevating underrepresented men in medicine.

These scholarships are made possible by donations from generous sponsors and matching funds provided by the Dean of Drexel University College of Medicine.

The D. Walter Cohen Shared Leadership Scholarship is open to underrepresented men in medicine who are committed to practicing medicine in underserved communities and who have been accepted to Drexel University College of Medicine.

Garvens Charles (2025)
Garvens was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, of Haitian parents who emigrated to the United States. He earned a BS in microbiology and certificate in biotechnology from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst. Following graduation, Garvens finished a master’s degree program in biomedical sciences at Drexel University.

Now in his final year of medical school, Garvens is involved in many extracurricular activities. He serves as a vice president of the Drexel Student National Medical Association, volunteers with RISE Philadelphia as an academic coach and mentor, and he co-founded Philly Student Doctors, a nonprofit community-service organization with goals that include inspiring youth in the community to pursue careers in medicine and science, and to increase representation in health care fields.

Garvens is planning a career in gastroenterology, which will allow him to address the growing need for comprehensive dietary interventions in health care, particularly for underserved populations.

Abay Tadesse (2026)
Abay was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and moved to the United States when he was 3 years old. His family settled near Philadelphia, and he grew up in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He earned a BS in neuroscience, with minors in chemistry and Africana studies from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from Drexel University with a concentration in interdisciplinary health sciences.

Now in his third year of medical school, Abay serves as a Med Scholar first-year medical students and is a teaching assistant for the Neurobiology course. He continued in his leadership role as member of the Salvation Army free health clinic executive board and pharmacy coordinator for the clinic. He also became a published author on the subject of AI in medical education, winning first prize in clinical research at Drexel University College of Medicine’s annual Discovery Day research symposium. Abay completed a head trauma research project at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and was selected to present his research at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Congress in Phoenix, Arizona, in January 2024.

As a future physician, Abay hopes to work with underserved communities, addressing the serious problem of health disparities in those communities, and building an environment of trust and accountability for his patients.

Abay’s D. Walter Cohen Shared Leadership Scholarship is sponsored by the W.W. Smith Charitable Foundation.

Support the Scholarship

Please join us by celebrating Dr. Cohen's legacy and vision of shared leadership by making a gift. Your gift will help fund tuition support for a talented, underrepresented men studying medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine. To make a gift online, visit giving.drexel.edu/cohenleadershipscholarship.

For more information about the various levels of giving, please contact Andrea Pesce Hannan, assistant vice president of development, Office of of Institutional Advancement, at 215.432.7934 or adp77@drexel.edu.

About Dr. Cohen

D. Walter Cohen, DDS, was instrumental in the founding of the Woman One Award and Scholarship Fund, which has supported underrepresented MD program students at Drexel University College of Medicine since 2003. As a complement to Woman One, the D. Walter Cohen Shared Leadership Scholarship will promote the importance of shared leadership among women and men, while also addressing the problem of declining medical school applications from underrepresented men in medicine.