- May and Ving Lee Professor for Chemical Innovation and Professor, Department of Chemistry
- Associate Dean for Research and Professor at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Dr. Burke’s research interests are in the area of organic chemistry with a specific focus on the synthesis and study of small molecules with protein-like functions. Ultimately, Dr. Burke envisions such compounds serving as substitutes for missing or dysfunctional proteins, thereby operating as prostheses on the molecular scale. To enable these studies, his group seeks to develop new strategies and methods that make the process of complex small molecule synthesis as simple, efficient, and flexible as possible.