Scientific Areas of Expertise: Epigenetics; Gene Regulation, p53 Biology
For her illuminating contributions to the fields of chromatin biology, epigenetics, and transcriptional regulation, including the demonstration of novel chromatin-specific mechanisms that influence the progression of tumors with gain-of-function p53 mutations and for identifying numerous enzymes responsible for post-translational histone modification, providing important mechanistic insights into the importance of epigenetic events in tumor initiation and progression.
A prominent authority in epigenetics, Dr. Berger has contributed to several seminal discoveries spanning the fields of chromatin biology, epigenetics, and transcriptional regulation and is lauded as a leader in revolutionizing our understanding of genetic information. Dr. Berger’s research has been essential in establishing the concept that histone modifications regulate the genome by modulating gene transcription and impacting DNA replication and repair. Dr. Berger has deciphered the complex language of chromatin regulation during transcription by employing an array of animal models and several technological approaches including temporal studies in vivo on synchronized populations and has elucidated the specific roles of individual histone post-translational modifications in various pathologies including cancer, senescence and aging, and the biological control of memory and complex social behavior.
Dr. Berger’s contributions to the understanding of epigenetic regulation include unravelling how histone post-translational modifications function in combinatorial patterns and in temporal sequences, and how intricate timing and spatial requirements are required to activate and deactivate genes. Moreover, her team has identified numerous enzymes that carry out epigenetic modifications and discovered associated binding proteins that assist with coordinating such post-translational modifications.
Additionally, Dr. Berger and her team have elegantly described the timing of histone H2B ubiquitylation followed by deubiquitylation, identified the associated deubiquitylating enzyme, and determined the biochemical role of this dynamic switch in regulating elongation by RNA polymerase II through transcribed genes. She has also demonstrated that novel chromatin mechanisms underline the progression of tumors with gain of function p53 mutations, pinpointing new robust druggable targets and the possibility of combinatorial chromatin-based therapies. Dr. Berger’s current research focus is to continue to explore novel epigenetic modifications and their mechanisms of action to elucidate the specific roles that individual histone modifications play in disease progression with the goal of defining novel mechanistic insights into the importance of epigenetic events in tumor initiation and progression.
Selected Awards and Honors
2021 Elected Member, American Associated for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2018 Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
2017 Glenn Foundation Award in Aging, Paul F. Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, New York, New York
2016 The Stanley N. Cohen Biomedical Research Excellence Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2015-2021 Review Board, Stand Up to Cancer, Los Angelos, California
2014-2019 Scientific Advisory Board, Max-Planck Institute for Immunology and Epigenetics, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
2013-2017 ~ Howard Hughes Collaborative Research Award, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland
2013 Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts
2012 Elected Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC
2012 Elected Member, National Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC
2010-2013 The Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award, The Ellison Medical Foundation, Bethesda, Maryland
2010 Chair, Grant Review Committee, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
1998-1999 Shannon Award, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland