Dr. Michael W. Lieberman was the founding director of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston and held the Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Distinguished Endowed Chair. He was also chair of the Department of Pathology at The Methodist Hospital. Dr. Lieberman was Professor of Pathology, Weill Cornell College of Medicine and Professor of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he is a graduate of Yale University and received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Lieberman’s research has focused on cancer including the repair of DNA damage by carcinogens, gene expression in cancer and the role of glutathione in the protection of cells from carcinogens and environmental agents.

He was a fellow at the Fels Research Institute (Temple University), the Chester Beatty Institute for Cancer Research (UK), and the National Cancer Institute. He served as head of the somatic cell genetics section of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, professor of pathology and biological chemistry at Washington University (St. Louis), chair of the department of pathology at The Fox Chase Cancer Center and adjunct professor of pathology at the University of Pennsylvania. He came to Houston in 1988 as the W.L. Moody, Jr., professor and chair of the department of pathology and professor in the department of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor College of Medicine. He was the founding director of the Baylor Cancer Center and led the pathology service at The Methodist Hospital since 1988.

Dr. Lieberman has served on and/or chaired study sections for the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society and is a former member of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Advisory Board (“Council”). He is past president of the American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Association of University Pathologists. He recently received the Gold Headed Cane, a life time achievement award, from the American Society for Investigative Pathology.