Faculty Profiles

Dr. Burden is passionate about introducing students to the wonders of God's creation in the laboratory setting. Whether teaching or doing research, she gets excited about sharing and exploring science with her students. Dr. Burden has taught General Biology (241 and 242), Genetics, and Biochemistry laboratories. Her research centers on understanding the mechanism used by a toxin protein produced by Staphylococcus aureus.

National Institutes of Health
Postdoctoral Fellow, 1998

Indiana University
Postdoctoral Fellow, 1997

Indiana University
Ph.D., Biochemistry 1996

Michigan Technological University
B.S., Chemistry 1990

• Protein Biochemistry
• Molecular Biology
• Cellular Biology
• Bacterial Toxins
• Signal Transduction
• Protein/Membrane Interactions
• Protein Structure/Function Relationships

• Biology 201 Principles of Biology
• Biology 241 labs: Organization of Life: Genetics and Cell Biology
• Biology 242 labs: Diversity of Life: An Introduction to Zoology and Botany
• Biology 356 labs: Genetics
• Biology 362 lab: Cell and Developmental Biology
• Biology 461 lab: Biochemistry
• Biology 495 Independent Research

• ASBMB (American Society of Biochemists and Molecular Biologists)
• Biophysical Society
• ASA (American Scientific Affiliation)

Current research projects under my direction include studies that seek to utilize the alpha-hemolysin toxin pore as a sensor or switch.  Other projects aim at characterizing the properties of an assembled toxin pore on the surface of red blood cells and exploring the effect of the toxin on other cell types such as lung epithelial cells.  Each of these studies contributes to the basic understanding of how this toxin works and has relevance to areas of science such as nanotechnology, bacteriology, and medicine.

Visit Dr. Burden’s research website at burdenlab.org.

Burden, D.L., Keranen-Burden, L.M., “Monitoring and Controlling the Delivery of Single Molecules through Nanopores,” Scientia, 115, 32-35, ISSN 2059-8971, 2017.

Kasianowicz, J. Reiner, J, Balijepalli, A., Robertson, J., Burden, D.L., Burden, L., “Systems and Methods for Controlling Temperature of Small Volumes,” Patent No. 9500610, App. No. 14/073,126; Pub. No. 20140064324, United States, issued 11/2016.

Pederson, E.D, Barbalas, J., Drown, B.S., Culbertson, M.J., Keranen Burden, L.M., Kasianowicz, J.J., Burden, D.L., “Proximal Capture Dynamics for a Single Biological Nanopore Sensor,” J. Phys. Chem. B, 119, 10448-10445, 2015.

Reiner, J., Robertson, J.W.F., Keranen Burden, L.M., Balijepalli, A., Burden, D.L., Kasianowicz, J., “Temperature Sculpting in Yactoliter Volumes,” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 135, 3087-3094, 2013.

Bailey, D.J., Kindt, J.T., Taylor, M.M., Paulson, A.R., Jones, B.H., Hubbell, K.L., Keranen-Burden, L.M., Burden, D.L., “Post-hoc Vibration Mitigation for Single-Molecule Tracking and Diffusion Measurements in Lipid Membranes”, Spetrosc. Lett., 43, 586-596, 2010.

Paterson, J.; Renkema, K.; Keranen-Burden, L.M.; Halleck, M.; Schlegel, R.; Williamson, P.; Daleke, D., “Lipid Specific Activation of the Murine P4-ATPase Atp8a1 (ATPaseII)”, Biochemistry, 45, 5367, 2006.

Chandler EL, Smith AL, Burden LM, Kasianowicz JJ, Burden DL, “Membrane surface dynamics of DNA-threaded nanopores revealed by simultaneous single-molecule optical and ensemble electrical recording.” Langmuir 20: 898-905, 2004.

Ho YJ, Burden LM, Hurley JH:  “Structure of the GAF domain, a ubiquitous signaling motif and a new class of cyclic GMP receptor.” The EMBO Journal  19:5288-5299, 2000.