Bert W. O'Malley

William Bert O'Malley ( b. 1936 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American molecular and cell biologist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

Life

O'Malley earned a bachelor's degree in 1959 from the University of Pittsburgh in 1963 and a MD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. As a medical assistant, he worked at Duke University Medical Center before he went in 1965 to the National Institutes of Health (NIH ), from 1967 as Head of the Department of Molecular Biology at the National Institute of Child Health and Development ( NICHD ). After Professor of Reproductive Biology (1969-1973) at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, was O'Malley Chair of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

Bert W. O'Malley is married and has four children.

Work

O'Malley is considered a leader in research on the effect of female steroid hormones progesterone and estrogen and the basic mechanisms of gene regulation ( regulation of gene expression ) in eukaryotes. O'Malley demonstrated that steroid hormone nuclear receptors and first act at the level of gene transcription to the regulation of mRNA synthesis. O'Malley described the molecular steps from the hormone to gene to protein and discovered the "Missing Link regulators " ( coactivators / corepressors ), decipher the transcription directions of the receptors. His work led to the molecular understanding of the effect of hormone antagonists and have a significant impact on the areas of endocrinology, reproduction, genetic disorders and the treatment of hormone-dependent types of breast and prostate cancer.

Awards (selection)

O'Malley holds honorary doctorates from the following universities: New York Medical College, Karolinska Institutet, National University of Ireland, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, University of Athens.