David T. Burke, Ph.D., appointed interim chair of Human Genetics

David T. Burke, Ph.D., has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Human Genetics, effective Jan. 1, 2016. He replaces Sally A. Camper, Ph.D., the James V. Neel Collegiate Professor of Human Genetics, who is stepping down as chair at the end of the year.

Burke joined the faculty in 1991 as an assistant professor of human genetics. A year later, he received a joint appointment as an assistant research scientist in the Institute of Gerontology. He rose through the ranks to professor of human genetics and research associate professor in the Institute of Gerontology.

An internationally acclaimed scientist, his research focuses on quantitative trait analysis of complex, multigenic traits in synthetic populations of the laboratory mouse, the development of engineering systems for microfluidic analysis, and low-cost technology systems for health care delivery. His work has been recognized by the Medical School Basic Science Research Award in 2004, and Basic Science Teaching Award in 2012.

A 1982 graduate of the University of Rochester with a bachelor’s degree in the biological sciences/biochemistry, Burke received his doctorate in molecular biology in 1988 from Washington University in St. Louis. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular genetics as a Life Science Research Foundation fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Princeton University.