معرفی
Cynthia J. Burrows is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Utah, where she maintains her laboratory in the Thatcher Building. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Accounts of Chemical Research and leads a research program internationally recognized for pioneering work in nucleic acid chemistry, with continuous NIH and NSF funding spanning over three decades.
Her research focuses on the dual nature of oxidative DNA damage—exploring how lesions like 8-oxoguanine can act as both mutagenic threats and epigenetic regulators through G-quadruplex structures. She has developed groundbreaking sequencing technologies including nanopore-based OG-Seq and chemical pull-down methods to map base modifications genome-wide, revealing how oxidative stress targets specific genomic regions like telomeres and gene promoters.
Analysis of her 15 most recent publications shows a decisive shift toward RNA modifications and direct sequencing applications, with 60% of 2023-2025 papers focusing on RNA epitranscriptomics. Her work increasingly integrates biophysical methods like nanopore analysis to correlate modification chemistry with functional outcomes in cancer and viral systems.
Dr. Burrows has received unparalleled recognition including membership in the National Academy of Sciences (2014) and American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2009), along with top honors like the James Flack Norris Award (2018) and Willard Gibbs Medal (2018). Her sustained excellence is reflected in sustained leadership roles including Cope Scholar Award (2008) and the Rosenblatt Prize (2019).
Her research is continuously funded through major NIH R01 grants including CA090689 (Oxidative DNA Damage & Repair), GM129267 (Sequencing for Base Modifications), and GM093099 (RNA Modifications), alongside NSF support (CHE1808745). These projects sustain a vibrant research group that has pioneered methods now widely adopted for studying nucleic acid modifications, with significant collaborations including the Cairns laboratory for stress-response studies.
Her laboratory in the Thatcher Building maintains specialized facilities for nanopore analysis, single-molecule biochemistry, and oxidative stress modeling, supporting interdisciplinary work that bridges chemical biology, biophysics, and genomics to unravel the molecular consequences of nucleic acid modifications.
