Christopher Baum

Professor Christopher Baum is the Chair of the BIH Board of Directors and Chief Translational Research Officer at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. He has held leadership roles including President of Hannover Medical School (MHH) and Vice President for Medicine at the University of Lübeck, driving translational research and science management initiatives.

• Doctorate (1991) and Habilitation in Molecular Medicine (1999) at the University of Hamburg
• Professor for Stem Cell Biology at MHH (2000–2019)
• Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (2002)

His research focuses on gene therapy, including development of gene vectors, mechanisms of insertional mutagenesis, and safety assays for blood stem cell therapies. He has pioneered programs like the "Regenerative Sciences" PhD at MHH’s Cluster of Excellence REBIRTH, the "Young Academy" Clinician-Scientist program, and medical informatics initiatives integrating computer science with medicine.

He has received accolades such as the Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize and the Eva Luise Köhler Award for rare disease research. He also contributed to national and international translational research networks and the commercialization of anti-infective agents.

Baum’s leadership extends to strategic coordination of excellence initiatives, interprofessional teaching reforms, and fostering collaborations between institutions like the MDC, Charité, and UKSH. His work emphasizes translating basic research into clinical applications to improve patient outcomes.