David T. Burke
Professor of Human Genetics
Associate, Distributed Health Technologies
Associate Research Scientist for Institute of Gerontology
The Burke Laboratory research effort is concentrated in three main areas: (1) quantitative trait analysis of complex, multigenic traits in synthetic populations of the laboratory mouse, (2) the development of engineering systems for microfluidic analysis, and (3) low cost technology systems for health care delivery.
The first research area is a collaborative effort with other investigators at the University of Michigan to identify regions of the mouse genome correlated with inter-individual variation in complex adult phenotypes. Several phenotypic measures are examined in parallel, including body mass, T-cell populations, circulating hormones, bone structure, late-life hearing loss, and cancer incidence. We have identified gene locations associated with several late-life phenotypes, using a reproducible, genetically heterogeneous laboratory mouse "synthetic" population. The second project is a collaborative effort with Dr. Mark Burns (University of Michigan, Department of Chemical Engineering), and is developing a high-throughput DNA genotype analysis systems that can be provided to researchers and clinicians at low cost. The microfluidic devices: a) require human interaction only for initial loading of samples, b) provide consistent experimental processing and quality control, c) decrease sample processing time and human labor, d) reduce reagent costs by reducing the genotyping biochemistry to nanoliter volumes, and e) be fully controlled by integrated circuitry. The third area of work is a newly established cross-disciplinary research effort that will attempt to bring low cost technologies to clinics and clinical researchers. The focus is on developing advanced technologies that are readily manufactured, robust, and distributed.
Bennett-Baker PE, Wilkowski J, Burke DT: Age-associated activation of
epigenetically repressed genes in the mouse. Genetics, 165:2055-2062, 2003.
Volkman SK, Galecki AT, Burke DT, Paczas MR, Moalli MR, Miller RA,
Goldstein SA: Quantitative trait loci for femoral size and shape in a
genetically heterogeneous mouse population. J. Bone Miner. Res.,
18:1497-1505, 2003.
Harper JM, Galecki AT, Burke DT, Pinkosky SL, Miller RA: Quantitative trait
loci for insulin-like growth factor-I, leptin, thyroxine, and
corticosterone in genetically heterogeneous mice, Physiol. Genomics,
15:44-51, 2003.
Volkman SK, Galecki AT, Burke DT, Miller RA, Goldstein SA: Quantitative
trait loci that modulate femoral mechanical properties in a genetically
heterogeneous mouse population. J. Bone Miner. Res., 19:1497-1505, 2004.
Wolf N, Galecki A, Lipman RD, Chen S, Burke DT, Miller RA. Quantitative
trait locus mapping for age-related cataract severity and synechia
prevalence using four-way cross mice. Invest. Ophth. Visual Sci.,
45:1922-1929, 2004.
Pal R, Yang M, Johnson BN, Burke DT, Burns MA: Phase change microvalve for
integrated devices. Anal. Chem., 76:3740-3748, 2004.
Lin R, Burke DT, Burns MA: Addressable electric fields for size-fractioned
sample extraction in microfluidic devices. Anal. Chem., 77:4338-4347, 2005.
Pal R, Yang M, Lin R, Johnson BN, Srivastava N, Razzacki SZ, Chomistek KJ,
Heldsinger DC, Haque RM, Ugaz VM, Thwar PK, Chen Z, Alfano K, Yim MB,
Krishnan M, Fuller AO, Larson RG, Burke DT, Burns MA. An integrated
microfluidic device for influenza and other genetic analyses. Lab Chip, 5:
1024-1032, 2005.
Krishnan M, Burke DT, Burns MA. Theoretical considerations for counting
nucleic acid molecules in microdevices. J Micromech Microeng 15: N6-N10,
2005
Hanlon P, Lorenz WA, Shao Z, Harper JM, Galecki AT, Miller RA, Burke DT.
Three-locus and four-locus QTL interactions influence mouse insulin-like
growth factor-I. Physiol. Genomics 26: 46-54, 2006.
Reeves GM, McCreadie BR, Chen S, Galecki A, Burke DT, Miller R, Goldstein
S. Quantitative trait loci modulate vertebral morphology and mechanical
properties in a population of 18 month old genetically heterogeneous mice.
Bone 40: 433-443, 2007
Chisa JT, Burke DT. Mammalian mRNA splice-isoform selection is tightly
controlled. Genetics 2007, 175:1079-1087.
Zheng J, Webster JR, Mastrangelo CH, Ugaz VM, Burns MA, David T. Burke DT:
Integrated plastic microfluidic device for ssDNA separation. Sensors and
Actuators B (2007) 125:343-351
Lisabeth LD, Morgenstern LB, Burke DT, Sun YV, Long JC. Ancestral
heterogeneity in a bi-ethnic stroke population. Annals of Human Genetics
75:508–515, 2011.
Schacht J, Altschuler R, Burke DT, Chen S, Dolan D, Galecki AT, Kohrman D,
Miller RA. Alleles that modulate late life hearing in genetically heterogeneous
mice. Neurobiology of Aging (in press).