Nicholas Burgis

Nicholas Burgis is a Professor and Department Chair of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Eastern Washington University. He holds a PhD from The University at Albany, SUNY, and completed postdoctoral training at MIT. His research focuses on nucleotide metabolism, toxicology, and drug metabolism, with emphasis on the human ITPase enzyme's role in preventing DNA/RNA damage. Burgis leads a lab investigating ITPase's biochemistry, cardiovascular development, and applications in childhood diseases, cancer, and aging. His work employs molecular cloning, protein purification, and techniques like HPLC and fluorescent microscopy.

Research funding includes grants from the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, NIH, and an NSF S-STEM grant for underrepresented STEM students. He has served on the American Chemical Society Biochemistry Exam Committee and contributed to interdisciplinary biodefense research.

Key research areas include ITPase's role in purine metabolism, enzyme mutagenesis, and clinical implications of ITPase dysfunction. His lab's findings aim to improve therapies for metabolic disorders and chemoresistance-related cancers.