Emmanuel Cohen is a biocultural anthropologist and tenured researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), based at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France (Joint Research Unit 7206 “Eco-Anthropology”).

He studies both the biological adaptations of the human body and its variable sociocultural conceptions among populations undergoing continuous lifestyle transitions driven by urbanization. Using a holistic approach, Emmanuel focuses on the impact of urban transition, particularly the combined demographic, nutritional, and epidemiological shifts, on the health of African and Western populations experiencing this lifestyle transition, with at-risk subgroups often including the elderly.