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, where he has attained the rank of Full Professor with tenure.   He currently serves as the Chief of the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases.

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.