Martin D. Burke
Martin D. Burke

Contact Information

Office Managers
Kyla Lacy: kylalacy@illinois.edu
Marcia Fonseca: marciaaf@illinois.edu

Department of Chemistry
University of Illinois
454 RAL, Box 52-5
600 South Mathews Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
Edit Your Profile
May and Ving Lee Professor for Chemical Innovation, and Professor of Chemistry
Director of the Molecule Maker Lab
View CV (426.2 KB)

Biography

Dr. Martin D. Burke is the May and Ving Lee Professor for Chemical Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the founding Director of the Molecular Maker Lab and a co-founder of the Molecule Maker Lab Institute. He also helped launch the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and served as its inaugural Associate Dean of Research. Dr. Burke discovered chemistry that machines can do. His lab specifically pioneered blocc chemistry - the iterative synthesis of small molecules (chemical matter primarily built from carbon-carbon bonds) using MIDA/TIDA boronate building blocks, an approach that is friendly to automation, non-specialists, and AI. More than 300 of these building blocks are now commercially available and have been used in hundreds of labs worldwide to make a wide array of natural products, pharmaceuticals, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, diagnostic probes, catalysts, coatings, quantum dots, carbohydrate sensors, and many other functional small molecules. These applications have been reported in over 1,000 publications, including more than 300 patent applications. In his own lab, Dr. Burke leveraged this block chemistry approach to develop the field of molecular prosthetics, yield new drug candidates for cystic fibrosis (now in clinical trials) and anemia, define the sterol sponge mechanism by which glycosylated polyene macrolide natural products kill eukaryotic cells which led to renal sparing antifungal candidates for treating invasive fungal infections (now in clinical trials), and to enable AI-guided closed-loop discovery of record-breaking organic lasers and mechanistic insights underlying the stability of organophotovoltaic materials. To accelerate the real-world impact of this work, Dr. Burke has co-founded multiple biotechnology companies - including REVOLUTION Medicines, Sfunga Therapeutics (now Elion Therapeutics), and cystetic Medicines - which have collectively advanced seven drug candidates into clinical trials. Dr. Burke received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University, a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Harvard University, and an MD from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Additional honors include the ACS Cope Scholar Award, ACS Elias J. Corey Award in Organic Synthesis, Hirata Gold Medal, Mukaiyama Award, the University of Illinois Presidential Medallion, and the ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry. He has also been repeatedly recognized as a “Teacher Ranked as Excellent” by the University of Illinois.

Research Interests

  • Blocc chemistry – a modular platform for small molecule synthesis that is friendly to automation, AI, and non-specialists
  • Molecular prosthetics – the discovery and study of small molecules with protein-like functions.

Research Description

The Burke Lab develops blocc chemistry for small molecule synthesis and functional discovery. Blocc chemistry is chemistry that machines can do. It is friendly to automation, AI, and non-specialists. Our work aims to overcome the long-standing “synthesis bottleneck,” which limits both the efficiency of small molecule construction and broad participation in molecular innovation.

Dr. Burke’s lab continues to seek advances in stereospecific Csp³ cross-coupling and programmable covalent polycyclizations to convert linear precursors accessible with blocc chemistry into complex polycyclic natural product-like compounds. 

Blocc chemistry is an automatable, modular synthesis platform based on iterative coupling of iminodiacetic acid boronate building blocks, enabling rapid access to complex small molecules at the push of a button. This technology has laid the foundation for the discovery and study of small molecules with protein-like functions, or molecular prosthetics, which have shown therapeutic potential for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and anemia.

Recent integration with artificial intelligence and automated functional testing have enabled closed-loop discovery of new molecular functions, including organic lasers and photovoltaics.

Through the creation of the Molecule Maker Lab at U of I and co-founding the Molecule Maker Lab Institute, the Burke Group is expanding access to molecular design for both specialists and non-specialists alike—advancing the long-term goal of democratizing molecular innovation and empowering the next generation of molecular inventors worldwide.

Awards and Honors

Major National and International Honors

  • Member, National Academy of Medicine (2022)
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2022)
  • Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator, American Chemical Society (2013)
  • Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society (2011)
  • Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society (2013)
  • Thieme–IUPAC Prize in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2014)
  • Mukaiyama Award, The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan (2020)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist (2009)

Significant Institutional and Leadership Awards

  • Presidential Medallion, University of Illinois (2021)
  • Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumnus Award (2021)
  • LAS Impact Award, University of Illinois (2021)
  • University Scholars Award, University of Illinois (2017)

Teaching and Mentorship Recognition

  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent, UIUC Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning (multiple years, most recently 2023)
  • Nobel Laureate Signature Award in Graduate Education in Chemistry, American Chemical Society (2017)

Early Career and Innovation Recognition

  • Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award (2008)
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship (2009)
  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2008)
  • Technology Review “Top 35 Innovators Under 35” (2008)

Highlighted Publications

• Illuminating the Interface of Blocc Chemistry and Data Science: Maximizing Function with ML-Guided Discovery and a Digital Molecule Maker
Green, N., Hammond, R., Planey, J., Angello, N., Putnam, J., Berry, M., He, W., Chen, E., Nuñez-Corrales, S., Loving, D., Wang, W., Desmond, S., Switzky, R., Burke, M. D.
Journal of Chemical Education (2025, in press).

• Catalytic allylation of native hexoses and pentoses in water with indium
Adak, T., Menard, T., Albritton, M., Florit, F., Burke, M. D., Jensen, K. F., Denmark, S. E.
Nature 640, 94–99 (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08690-z

• Closed-loop transfer enables artificial intelligence to yield chemical knowledge
Angello, N. H., Friday, D. M., Hwang, C., Yi, S., Cheng, A. H., Torres-Flores, T. C., Jira, E. R., Wang, W., Aspuru-Guzik, A., Burke, M. D., et al.
Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07892-1

• Delocalized, asynchronous, closed-loop discovery of organic laser emitters
Strieth-Kalthoff, F., Hao, H., Rathore, V., Derasp, J., … Burke, M. D., et al.
Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adk9227

• Computational prediction of complex cationic rearrangement outcomes
Klucznik, T., Syntrivanis, L.-D., … Burke, M. D., Grzybowski, B. A.
Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06854-3

• Rapid automated iterative small molecule synthesis
Wang, W., Angello, N. H., Blair, D. J., Tyrikos-Ergas, T., Krueger, W. H., Medine, K. N. S., LaPorte, A. J., Berger, J. M., Burke, M. D.
Nature Synthesis (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44160-024-00558-w

• Minimizing higher-order aggregation maximizes iron mobilization by small molecules
Blake, A. D., Chao, J., … Burke, M. D., Seo, Y.-A.
Nature Chemical Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41589-024-01596-3

• Tuning sterol extraction kinetics yields a renal-sparing polyene antifungal
Maji, A., Soutar, C. P., Zhang, J., … Burke, M. D., et al.
Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06710-4

• Closed-loop optimization of general reaction conditions for heteroaryl Suzuki–Miyaura coupling
Angello, N. H., Rathore, V., Beker, W., Wołos, A., Jira, E. R., Roszak, R., Wu, T. C., Schroeder, C. M., Aspuru-Guzik, A., Grzybowski, B. A., Burke, M. D.
Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.adc8743

• Automated iterative C(sp³)–C bond formation
Blair, D. J., Chitti, S., Trobe, M., Kostyra, D. M., Haley, H. M. S., Hansen, R. L., Ballmer, S. G., Woods, T. J., Wang, W., Mubayi, V., Burke, M. D.
Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04491-w

• Small-molecule ion channels increase host defenses in cystic fibrosis airway epithelia
Muraglia, K. A., Chorghade, R. S., Kim, B. R., Tang, X. X., Shah, V. S., Grillo, A. S., Daniels, P. N., Cioffi, A. G., Karp, P. H., Zhu, L., Welsh, M. J., Burke, M. D.
Nature (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1018-5

• The molecular industrial revolution: automated synthesis of small molecules
Trobe, M., Burke, M. D.
Angewandte Chemie (2018). DOI: 10.1002/anie.201710482

• Towards the generalized iterative synthesis of small molecules
Lehmann, J. W., Blair, D. J., Burke, M. D.
Nature Reviews Chemistry (2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41570-018-0115

• Restored iron transport by a small molecule promotes absorption and hemoglobinization in animals
Grillo, A. S., SantaMaria, A. M., Kafina, M. D., Cioffi, A. G., Huston, N. C., Han, M., Seo, Y.-A., Yien, Y. Y., Nardone, C., Menon, A. V., Fan, J., Svoboda, D. C., Anderson, J. B., Hong, J. D., Nicolau, B. G., Subedi, K., Gewirth, A. A., Wessling-Resnick, M., Kim, J., Paw, B. H., Burke, M. D.
Science (2017). DOI: 10.1126/science.aah3862

• Synthesis of many different types of organic small molecules using one automated process
Li, J., Ballmer, S. G., Gillis, E. P., Fujii, S., Schmidt, M. J., Palazzolo, A. M. E., Lehmann, J. W., Morehouse, G. F., Burke, M. D.
Science (2015). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa5414

• Synthesis of Most Polyene Natural Product Motifs Using Just Twelve Building Blocks and One Coupling Reaction
Woerly, E. M., Roy, J., Burke, M. D.
Nature Chemistry (2014). DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1947

• Amphotericin primarily kills yeast by simply binding ergosterol
Gray, K. C., Palacios, D. S., Dailey, I., Endo, M. M., Uno, B. C., Wilcock, B. C., Burke, M. D.
PNAS (2012). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1117280109

• A simple and modular strategy for small molecule synthesis: iterative Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of B-protected haloboronic acid building blocks
Gillis, E. P., Burke, M. D.
Journal of the American Chemical Society (2007). DOI: 10.1021/ja0716204

Recent Publications

Green, N. M., Hammond, R. I., Planey, J., Angello, N. H., Putnam, J. L. B., Berry, M., He, W., Chen, E., Nuñez-Corrales, S., Loving, D. C., Wang, W., Huang, T., Gunasekera, B., Marville, K., Switzky, R., Desmond, S., & Burke, M. D. (2026). Illuminating the Interface of Blocc Chemistry and Data Science: Maximizing Function with ML-Guided Discovery and a Digital Molecule Maker. Journal of Chemical Education, 103(2), 976-985. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00795

Wu, J. L., Friday, D. M., Hwang, C., Yi, S., Torres-Flores, T. C., Burke, M. D., Diao, Y., Schroeder, C. M., & Jackson, N. E. (2026). Democratizing machine learning in chemistry with community-engaged test sets. Digital Discovery, 5(1), 304-309. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5dd00424a

Adak, T., Menard, T., Albritton, M., Florit, F., Burke, M. D., Jensen, K. F., & Denmark, S. E. (2025). Catalytic allylation of native hexoses and pentoses in water with indium. Nature, 640(8057), 94-99. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08690-z

Burke, M., Lewandowska, A., Soutar, C. P., Weers, J. G., Tarara, T. E., & Miller, D. P. (2025). Ion channel prosthetic compositions comprising lipid-coated crystals of amphotericin B. (U.S. Patent No. 12419899).

Celis, N., Miller, D. P., Tarara, T. E., Weers, J. G., Thornell, I. M., Welsh, M. J., & Burke, M. D. (2025). Molecular Prosthetics and CFTR Modulators Additively Increase Secretory HCO3– Flux in Cystic Fibrosis Airway Epithelia. ACS chemical biology, 20(11), 2630-2636. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.5c00473

View all publications on Illinois Experts