Charles Deutch

After receiving his doctorate in biology at the University of California, Riverside in 1970, Charles Deutch held academic positions at institutions including Kalamazoo College, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Elmira College. He came to Arizona State University's West campus in 2002. He retired from full-time employment at ASU in 2014, and then spent two years teaching at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He has now returned to ASU as an Emeritus Professor to teach on a part-time basis.

Professor Deutch's research focuses on the physiological and biochemical mechanisms by which various bacteria adapt to high-salt environments and the potential implications of these mechanisms for medicine and environmental biology. Currently there are three major projects under way in his laboratory. One concerns the uptake and metabolism of the amino acid L-proline as an osmotically-compatible solute by the uropathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. The second deals with the characterization of enzymes such as alpha-amylase from the salt-tolerant bacterium Gracilibacillus dipsosauri, which are highly resistant to salts, denaturing agents, and solvents. The third examines the effects of high salt concentrations on the morphology and metabolism of Arthrobacter globiformis.

He is also interested in the field of science pedagogy and the development of new laboratory experiments for undergraduates in the area of biology.