Research Overview:

Dr. Burnside’s current research focus is on chicken genomics, with an emphasis on high throughput sequencing for the purpose of developing a collection of chicken ESTs. This EST collection is being used to prepare DNA microarrays, which are used to profile the development of the immune system. Analyses of changes in these profiles during challenges to the immune system are being conducted as a means to predict vaccine efficiency. In addition, the arrays are used for the identification of candidate genes involved in disease resistance.

Another interest of the lab is the regulation of growth hormone (GH) action in poultry. Areas of research include the identification and characterization of the chicken growth hormone receptor gene, the components of the signaling pathway used by this receptor, and genes regulated by growth hormone. Mutations in the growth hormone receptor gene in sex-linked dwarf chickens have been identified. This dwarf chicken is being used as an experimental model for studying the role of the growth hormone receptor in growth and development and identifying novel genes whose expression is regulated by GH. In addition, protein-protein interaction domains have been identified in one of the signaling molecules that links the receptor to intracellular events. To further understanding of GH signaling, the domain of this protein is being used in the yeast two hybrid system to identify novel components of the signaling pathway.

Before coming to the university, Dr. Burnside was a postdoctoral fellow in molecular endocrinology at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School, and prior to that, at the NIH.

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