Schlau-Cohen received a BS with honors in
chemical physics from
Brown University in 2003. She completed her PhD in
chemistry in 2011 at the
University of California, Berkeley, where she worked with Professor
Graham R. Fleming as an
American Association of University Women (AAUW) fellow. From 2011 to 2014, Schlau-Cohen was a Center for Molecular Analysis and Design (CMAD) postdoctoral fellow at
Stanford University. She worked with Professor
W.E. Moerner and Professor Ed Solomon on
oxidative enzyme mechanisms, employing "time-dependent, single-molecule spectroscopy and steady-state ensemble measurements to study the kinetics of electron transfer in
Fet3p, the MCO
multi-copper oxidase ] responsible for iron uptake in yeast." In 2015, Schlau-Cohen joined the faculty of MIT as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor on July 1, 2020. Her research group at MIT, also known as the Schlau-Cohen Lab, is at the intersection of physical and biological chemistry. The lab focuses on using "a combination of single-molecule and ultrafast spectroscopies to explore the energetic and structural dynamics of biological systems." Schlau-Cohen's team works to "develop and apply tools to uncover the conformational and photophysical mechanisms of photosynthetic light harvesting and its regulation." Schlau-Cohen has served as associate director of the Bioinspired Light Escalated Chemistry Energy Frontier Research Center (BioLEC EFRC), a member of the Executive Committee of the
APS Division of Laser Science, and as a STEM ambassador for the American Association of University Women. == Awards and honors ==