Burstein to lead Digestive and Liver Diseases Division
By Carol Marie Cropper
Dr. Ezra Burstein, known for his research into the underlying causes of disease-producing inflammation, has been named Chief of the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Dr. Burstein will also serve as Director of the Pollock Family Center for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, an endowed position that will support his laboratory’s continuing research into that disease.
In announcing the Nov. 1 appointment, Dr. David Johnson, Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, said he was “tremendously pleased,” calling Dr. Burstein “not only a gifted clinician and educator, but a highly accomplished investigator as well.”
Dr. Burstein said treating and researching inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and gastrointestinal (GI) cancer will be growth areas at the Division under his leadership. He said he will also focus on advanced therapeutic endoscopy, which uses minimally invasive endoscope tubes to perform treatment procedures.
Fighting liver disease will be another priority, Dr. Burstein said. While advances in preventing hepatitis B and curing hepatitis C are reducing some liver problems, a dramatic increase in obesity and resulting fatty liver disease is canceling out those benefits, he said.
In his own lab, Dr. Burstein said he will continue to work toward an understanding of the genetic basis for pathologic inflammation.
His research focuses on IBD, in which an abnormal immune system response leads to inflammation, ulcers, and bleeding of the inner lining of the GI tract. About 1.6 million people in America are affected by IBD, according to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America.
However, the lab’s IBD research has implications for other diseases that share some of the same mechanisms of inflammation, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and other immune disorders, he said.
Dr. Burstein was co-senior author of a study published in Nature Immunology in March that was recently added to Nature Index’s list of important, high-quality research articles. The paper describes how a genetic mutation in patients with a rare, inherited disease (X-linked reticulate pigmentary disorder) disrupts a protein-coding gene called POLA1. That gene, UT Southwestern and other researchers found, is a critical regulator of the immune system’s type 1 interferon response.
Dr. Burstein first came to UT Southwestern in 1995 as a resident after graduating first in his medical school class at Cayetano Heredia University in his native Peru.
He went on to fellowship training, research, and teaching at the University of Michigan Medical School, but returned to UT Southwestern in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Biology.
Now an Associate Professor, Dr. Burstein is also a faculty mentor in the graduate program in Genetics, Development and Disease and was awarded a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in 2013 for work in this field.
He said he was inspired by physicians he met as a young UT Southwestern resident, recalling a talk by Dr. Daniel Foster, Professor of Internal Medicine and then-Chair of the Department. “It was one of those moments in your career when you listen to somebody and think, ‘Wow, this is the kind of doctor I want to be.’”
Dr. Burstein said he was glad for the chance to return in 2008. “I think there is a certain culture that exists here that just sets this place apart. I think it permeates every aspect of what we do, whether it be clinical care, education, or research,” he said.
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Dr. Foster holds the John Denis McGarry, Ph.D. Distinguished Chair in Diabetes and Metabolic Research.
Dr. Johnson holds the Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine.
