Rate My Professor Charlie Hao

Chunhai (Charlie) Hao, MD, PhD, serves as the Bicentennial Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine II and Professor of Neurological Surgery in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Department of Neurological Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine. A physician-scientist with over 25 years of experience in clinical neuropathology, he earned an MD, an MSc in pathology, and a PhD in cellular biology and anatomy, complemented by neuropathology residency training. Certified as a neuropathologist and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC), Dr. Hao's career trajectory includes faculty positions at the University of Alberta, Emory University, and McGill University prior to joining Indiana University School of Medicine in January 2018 as Bicentennial Chair and Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, with an adjunct role in Neurological Surgery. He practices as a neuropathologist at Indiana University Health.

Dr. Hao's research centers on protein ubiquitination and degradation pathways in human diseases, with a focus on developing novel molecular glue degraders for targeted anticancer and antiaging therapies. His laboratory has pioneered the discovery of the first small-molecule degraders of SUMO1, which promote ubiquitination and degradation of SUMO1 to extend survival in mice bearing patient-derived tumors, and degraders of amyloid precursor protein (APP) that reduce Aβ amyloid accumulation in Alzheimer's disease models. Notable publications include "Ubiquitination and degradation of SUMO1 by small-molecule degraders extends survival of mice with patient-derived tumors" (Science Translational Medicine, 2021), "SUMO1 modification stabilizes CDK6 protein and drives the cell cycle and glioblastoma progression" (Nature Communications, 2014), and "A20 ubiquitin ligase-mediated polyubiquitination of RIP1 inhibits caspase-8 cleavage and TRAIL-induced apoptosis in glioblastoma" (Cancer Discovery, 2012). His research is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute on Aging (NIA), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation. Dr. Hao has co-founded HB Therapeutics, Inc., for commercializing anticancer molecular glues, and Degrome Therapeutics, Inc., for Alzheimer's therapeutics, holds several U.S. patents, and has served on multiple NCI study sections. His highly cited work has profoundly influenced the fields of neuro-oncology, targeted protein degradation, and therapeutic development.