Ezra Burstein, M.D., Ph.D.
Division Chief
Professor & Division Chief

Download Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Burstein received his medical degree from Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru.  He completed Internal Medicine residency training at UT Southwestern and Gastroenterology fellowship training at the University of Michigan.  Thereafter, he was also a research fellow at the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH. After completion of his training, he joined the Faculty at University of Michigan (2002-2008), and was later recruited to UT Southwestern, joining the Departments of Internal Medicine (Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases) and Molecular Biology. 

Dr. Burstein′s research training and expertise is in the area of molecular immunology.  Broadly, the work in his laboratory is focused on basic mechanisms that control inflammatory responses in human disease, particularly inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).  Work from the laboratory has investigated the regulation of the NF-kB transcription factor, which led to the discovery of the COMMD protein family.  Thereafter, his group has also investigated the basic functions of these factors in immune regulation, including the recent discovery of their role in endosomal protein sorting. More recently, the lab began investigating the genetic and molecular basis of altered immunity in patients with defined Mendelian disorders.  These studies have led to important discoveries, including the identification of cytosolic RNA:DNA hybrids as regulators of the interferon pathway.

Medical School

Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University (1994)

Residency

UT Southwestern Medical Center (1998), Internal Medicine

Fellowship

University of Michigan Hospitals & Health Centers (2001), Gastroenterology

Graduate School

University of Groningen (2013), Molecular Genetics

• COMMD proteins: We study the regulation of endosomal protein sorting and immune function by members of this protein family.
• Genetics of inflammatory disorders: Out lab investigates the genetic basis of disorders of immune function, particularly affecting the GI tract
• Mucosal immunity and immune-tumor interactions in the GI tract

Featured Publications

SCGN deficiency results in colitis susceptibility.

Sifuentes-Dominguez LF, Li H, Llano E, Liu Z, Singla A, Patel AS, Kathania M, Khoury A, Norris N, Rios JJ, Starokadomskyy P, Park JY, Gopal P, Liu Q, Tan S, Chan L, Ross T, Harrison S, Venuprasad K, Baker LA, Jia D, Burstein E, Elife 2019 Oct 8

Endosomal PI(3)P regulation by the COMMD/CCDC22/CCDC93 (CCC) complex controls membrane protein recycling.

Singla A, Fedoseienko A, Giridharan SSP, Overlee BL, Lopez A, Jia D, Song J, Huff-Hardy K, Weisman L, Burstein E, Billadeau DD, Nat Commun 2019 Sep 10 1 4271

Retriever is a multiprotein complex for retromer-independent endosomal cargo recycling.

McNally KE, Faulkner R, Steinberg F, Gallon M, Ghai R, Pim D, Langton P, Pearson N, Danson CM, Nägele H, Morris LL, Singla A, Overlee BL, Heesom KJ, Sessions R, Banks L, Collins BM, Berger I, Billadeau DD, Burstein E, Cullen PJ Nat. Cell Biol. 2017 Oct 19 10 1214-1225

DNA polymerase-a regulates the activation of type I interferons through cytosolic RNA:DNA synthesis.

Starokadomskyy P, Gemelli T, Rios JJ, Xing C, Wang RC, Li H, Pokatayev V, Dozmorov I, Khan S, Miyata N, Fraile G, Raj P, Xu Z, Xu Z, Ma L, Lin Z, Wang H, Yang Y, Ben-Amitai D, Orenstein N, Mussaffi H, Baselga E, Tadini G, Grunebaum E, Sarajlija A, Krzewski K, Wakeland EK, Yan N, de la Morena MT, Zinn AR, Burstein E Nat. Immunol. 2016 Mar

COMMD1 is linked to the WASH complex and regulates endosomal trafficking of the copper transporter ATP7A.

Phillips-Krawczak CA, Singla A, Starokadomskyy P, Deng Z, Osborne DG, Li H, Dick CJ, Gomez TS, Koenecke M, Zhang JS, Dai H, Sifuentes-Dominguez LF, Geng LN, Kaufmann SH, Hein MY, Wallis M, McGaughran J, Gecz J, van de Sluis B, Billadeau DD, Burstein E Mol. Biol. Cell 2014 Oct

COMMD1 promotes the ubiquitination of NF-kappaB subunits through a cullin-containing ubiquitin ligase.

Maine GN, Mao X, Komarck CM, Burstein E EMBO J. 2007 Jan 26 2 436-47

COMMD proteins, a novel family of structural and functional homologs of MURR1.

Burstein E, Hoberg JE, Wilkinson AS, Rumble JM, Csomos RA, Komarck CM, Maine GN, Wilkinson JC, Mayo MW, Duckett CS J. Biol. Chem. 2005 Jun 280 23 22222-32

Microbial Sensing by Intestinal Myeloid Cells Controls Carcinogenesis and Epithelial Differentiation.

Miyata N, Morris LL, Chen Q, Thorne C, Singla A, Zhu W, Winter M, Melton SD, Li H, Sifuentes-Dominguez L, Llano E, Huff-Hardy K, Starokadomskyy P, Lopez A, Reese TA, Turer E, Billadeau DD, Winter SE, Burstein E Cell Rep 2018 Aug 24 9 2342-2355

Endosomal sorting of Notch receptors through COMMD9-dependent pathways modulates Notch signaling.

Li H, Koo Y, Mao X, Sifuentes-Dominguez L, Morris LL, Jia D, Miyata N, Faulkner RA, van Deursen JM, Vooijs M, Billadeau DD, van de Sluis B, Cleaver O, Burstein E J. Cell Biol. 2015 Nov 211 3 605-17

Copper Metabolism Domain-containing 1 Represses Genes that Promote Inflammation and Protects Mice From Colitis and Colitis-associated Cancer.

Li H, Chan L, Bartuzi P, Melton SD, Weber A, Ben-Shlomo S, Varol C, Raetz M, Mao X, Starokadomskyy P, van Sommeren S, Mokadem M, Schneider H, Weisberg R, Westra HJ, Esko T, Metspalu A, Kumar V, Faubion WA, Yarovinsky F, Hofker M, Wijmenga C, Kracht M, Franke L, Aguirre V, Weersma RK, Gluck N, van de Sluis B, Burstein E Gastroenterology 2014 Apr

• Berta M. and Cecil O. Patterson Chair in Gastroenterology
  (2019)
• Physician of the Year
  North Texas Chapter, Crohn's and Colitis Foundation (2017)
• Member
  The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) (2012)
• Helmsley Scholar
  Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (2010)
• AGA Research Scholar Award
  Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition (2003)
• John S. Miller Award
  Outstanding Performance as a House Officer, UT Southwestern Medical School (1998)
• Valedictorian
  Medical School of Cayetano Heredia University (1994)

• American Society for Cell biology (ASCB) (2014)
• American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) (2012)
• American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) (1999)