May Cohen

May Cohen, OC (born 1931) is a Canadian physician and educator. She is best known for initiating the creation of a women's health curriculum in Ontario medical schools and for her work as a women's health advocate.

Early life and studies May Cohen, née Lipshitz, was born on March 7, 1931, in Montreal, Quebec. She is the daughter of Sam and Manya Lipshitz. Her father, Sam, worked as the editor of a Jewish newspaper and her mother, Manya, taught Yiddish. Shortly after she was born, she and her family moved to Toronto, Ontario, where she was raised. She graduated from medical school in 1955 and was the recipient of a Cody Medal. After graduating, she received a Medical Research Council scholarship to study endocrinology for two years. Then, in 1977, she began teaching and practicing family medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. She was the Associate Dean of Health Services at McMaster University from 1991 to 1996.

Recognition May Cohen was named a Canadian Medical Hall of Fame inductee in 2016 for her work in women's health. In 2017, she was named an Officer to the Order of Canada. In 2000, Eli Lilly Canada and McMaster University created the Eli Lilly Canada-May Cohen Chair in Women's Health in her honor, which included a one million dollar donation over five years from Eli Lilly Canada to be used for research in the field of women's health. Eli Lilly Canada and McMaster University also created the Eli Lilly Canada/May Cohen Chair in Women's Health in recognition of her work in the field.

There have also been several awards named in her honor, such as the May Cohen Award for Women Mentors, created by the Canadian Medical Association, and the May Cohen Leadership award, created by the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. Additionally, she has won several other awards. In 1986, she was named The City of Hamilton's Women of the Year. She earned the Canadian Medical Association's Medal of Service in 2000, and in 2001, she was named an inductee to the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction. Dr. Gerry Cohen joined the McMaster University Department of Family Medicine with his wife in 1977. The couple has three children: Eric, Russel, and the late Stuart. They also have seven grandchildren.