He joined the Department of Chemistry in 2005 as an Assistant Professor, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011, then to full Professor in 2014. He was appointed Associate Dean of Research of the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine in 2018.[4][12] In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Burke was appointed to lead the University of Illinois' SHIELD initiative to protect the community with testing. A collaborative effort between Burke and Paul J. Hergenrother lead to the development of a saliva test called covidSHIELD for COVID-19 that has been used over 1 million times in the campus community.[13]
Research
Burke's research is divided into three segments, "Lego Chemistry", Molecular Prosthetics, and Antifungals. [14] "Lego chemistry" involves the use of "boron-protected haloboronic acids" to iteratively cross-couple building blocks into complex molecules. This work culminated into a paper in the journal Science.[15] Work in this area is ongoing and has begun to include a focus on Csp3 cross-coupling to expand the value of the automated process.[16] Molecular prosthetics is the study of small organic molecules that restore function of aberrant or missing proteins in biology. Burke has reported on two molecular prosthetics in detail including Hinokitiol and Amphotericin B. Hitokitiol restores iron transport as well as other metals, acting as a prosthetic for passive metal transporters as reported in Science.[17] Amphotericin B assembles into small pores to allow bicarbonate across endothelial cells which shows promise in treatment of cystic fibrosis [18] Amphotericin B is also involved in the antifungal finger of the Burke's research. His group discovered that the analog "C2’deOAmB" is able to kill fungal cells by binding ergosterol but not cholesterol.[19]
Recognition
Burke was named a Beckman Foundation Young Investigator in 2008.[1][4] In 2013 the American Chemical Society gave him their Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator,[4] and in 2017 they named Burke their Nobel Laureate Signature Award in Graduate Education in Chemistry.[2][4]
References
^ ab"Martin D. Burke". Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Retrieved 9 March 2017.