معرفی
Kelly Burke is an Associate Professor and Department Head at the University of Connecticut’s College of Engineering. She holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Science from Case Western Reserve University (2010). Her research focuses on synthesizing functional polymeric materials, including liquid crystalline materials, stimuli-responsive polymers, and biocompatible biomaterials for medical and sustainability applications. She has held leadership roles such as Director of the Polymer Science Program (2021–2024) and previously served as an Assistant Professor (2014–2021) and Postdoctoral Scholar (2010–2013) at Tufts University. Burke has received prestigious awards, including the NIH MIRA (2022) and NSF CAREER (2020) awards.
Education:
- Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, 2010
Research Interests: Her lab explores liquid crystalline polymers for shape-memory applications, biopolymers like silk for medical devices, and materials to modulate inflammation. Projects include biodegradable linkers in liquid crystalline networks and functionalized silk surfaces for drug delivery. Research areas span biomaterials engineering, sustainable polymers, and regenerative medicine.
Publications: Her work spans liquid crystalline materials, silk-based adhesives, and biomedical applications. Recent studies include 3D-printed silk constructs for tissue engineering and electrocaloric polymers for energy applications.
Awards:
- National Institutes of Health Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (2022)
- American Chemical Society Young Investigator Award (2022)
- National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2020)
Grants & Labs: Leads the Burke Laboratory for Polymeric Materials, focusing on advanced materials for medical and sustainable uses. Her NSF and NIH grants support research into shape-memory polymers and biomaterials for chronic disease modulation.
Labs/Teams: The Burke Lab collaborates on projects involving silk fibroin conjugates, electrocaloric materials, and biocompatible composites. Facilities include advanced characterization tools for polymer synthesis and biomaterial testing.
