Assistant Professor, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
School of Medicine

Bacterial pathogenesis, innate immunity, microbial cancer therapies, tumor microbiomes, small molecule innate immune agonists for cancer,.

Burke Lab website

Dr. Burke is a molecular biologist with expertise in bacterial pathogenesis, host innate immune responses, microbial cancer therapies, tumor microbiomes, and early stage drug development. Dr. Burke's lab uses microbial genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry to study molecular interactions at the host-pathogen interface. The goal of his lab is to generate foundational knowledge on bacterial pathogenesis and innate immunity, and to leverage this knowledge to generate novel vaccines and therapeutics for infectious disease and cancer.

Since beginning his own research program at UC Irvine in 2022, his lab has made key advances into understanding how obligate intracellular tick-borne Rickettsia cause human disease, including the virulence factors they use to escape innate immunity, how they pillage host metabolites, and how mouse but not human innate immunity controls infection. In ongoing work, his lab is investigating how antibacterial autophagy restricts Rickettsia, how Rickettsia parasitize host nutrients from the eukaryotic cytosol, and is developing improved animal models to study rickettsiosis.

Dr. Burke’s lab also has discovered mechanisms by which bacteria activate innate immunity in tumors and have leveraged this knowledge to discover synergistic combinations of innate immune agonists for cancer immunotherapy. His lab's ongoing work is developing novel innate immune agonists for treating cancer.

2024 American Society of Rickettsiology - Travel Grant Award Recipient
2024 New Investigator Award, UC Irvine School of Medicine
2024 Anti-Cancer Challenge Grant, Team Award (lead PI)
2024 Cancer Research Coordinating Committee Award, University of California
2023 Junior Preceptor - UCI Interdisciplinary Cancer Research T32
2023 American Society of Rickettsiology -Travel Grant Award Recipient
2023 Anti-Cancer Challenge Grant, Team Award (lead PI)
2022 American Cancer Society Seed Grant Award
2022 New Investigator Award, UC Irvine School of Medicine
2019 American Society of Rickettsiology -Travel Grant Award Recipient
2009 Indiana University Biology Undergraduate Research Award
2010 National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship, Honorable Mention
2009 Howard W. Clark Scholarship ? For outstanding work in botany (2 awards / year)
2009 Indiana University - Graduated Summa cum laude
2009 Indiana University Dean’s list, 2005-2009, all 8 semesters
2009 Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society
2007 Fernandus Payne Scholarship ? To top 20 outstanding undergrad researchers
2006 Indiana University Hutton Honors College Research Partnership Grant
2006 HHMI Capstone Research Opportunity Grant – Indiana University
2005 Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences Merit Scholarship
2005 AP Scholar with Distinction Award – Indiana University

As a graduate student with Dr. Dan Portnoy at UC Berkeley, Dr. Burke performed forward genetic screens, suppressor analysis, and implemented microbial genetics and biochemistry to uncover the molecular basis for lysozyme resistance in Listeria monocytogenes. As a postdoc with Dr. Matt Welch at UC Berkeley, he discovered a novel mechanism by which the obligate intracellular tick-borne pathogen Rickettsia parkeri manipulates innate immunity. This work led to the discovery of the first mouse model that recapitulates hallmark human manifestations of rickettsial disease.

Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=7067

Last updated
03/25/2025