Dr. Chuck Bieberich

Dr. Bieberich received his Ph.D. in Genetics from The Johns Hopkins University in 1987. Upon completion of his postdoctoral work in Developmental Genetics at Yale University, he was appointed as a Scientist at the Holland Laboratory of the American Red Cross in 1990, with a joint appointment in the Department of Biochemistry at George Washington University School of Medicine.

Dr. Bieberich’s early research focus was on body plan evolution, using the mouse as a model system. His work revealed a critical role for Hox genes in shaping the axial skeleton, and showed that modern mammals still have the potential to generate body forms that have been absent for hundreds of millions of years. His evolutionary studies were published in Cell, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and featured on the cover of The New Scientist, and in the Dallas Morning News.

In 1996, Dr. Bieberich’s lab reported the discovery of a new mouse developmental gene called Nkx3.1 that plays a role prostate gland organogenesis. Subsequent studies by Dr. Bieberich and many others have shown that the human counterpart of this gene is a critical “gatekeeper” prostate tumor suppressor gene.

In 1997, Dr. Bieberich moved his lab to the Department of Biological Sciences at UMBC, where he continues to study the biology and biochemistry of Nkx3.1 and other proteins in prostate development and disease. His recent works, focusing on post-translational regulation of NXK3.1 lead his team to develop a powerful new assay to identify substrates of protein kinases, for which two US patents have been awarded. In collaboration with a group at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Bieberich’s lab has developed cutting-edge mouse models of lethal forms of human prostate cancer as well as other mouse models of benign prostate disease.

His ongoing work is focused on leveraging the expertise of his team in kinase biology and disease modeling to develop new therapeutic approaches to treat prostate cancer. Dr. Bieberich’s lab has received continuous federal funding since 1992 from the National Institutes of Health and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP). He is currently funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute for Diabetes, and Digestive, and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and the Patrick C. Walsh Prostate Cancer Research Fund.

In addition, Dr. Bieberich also has a longstanding interest in increasing diversity in the biomedical research community, and has received the Meyerhoff Mentor of the Year Award. He has served since 2003 as the Program Director of the NIDDK-supported Short-Term Education Program for Underrepresented Persons, which funds the UMBC Biomedical Summer Undergraduate Research Experience training program. Dr. Bieberich has also served on numerous grant review study sections for both the NIH and the CDMRP, and is currently on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Prostate Disease Research in Rockville, Maryland.