biology

Kathleen H. Burns

Kathleen H. Burns is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kathleen H. Burns rather than just read about it. In short: Kathleen H. Burns, Ph.D., M.D., is a Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Chair of the Department of Pathology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Key takeaways

Kathleen H. Burns belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Reference excerpt

Kathleen H. Burns, Ph.D., M.D., is a Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Chair of the Department of Pathology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She previously worked at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As of 2025, Burns became a co-editor of the Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease. She is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Interurban Clinical Club and has been given a Career Award for Medical Scientists by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Early life and education Kathleen Helen Burns was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She attended the University of Southern Mississippi, completing her degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1997. She was accepted into the National Institutes of Health's Medical Scientist Training Program, and completed her M.S.T.P. at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. In 2004, she was recruited to become a clinical pathology resident (2004-2007) and later chief resident (2006-2007) at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Career Following her residency, Burns joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, rising to full professor in 2018. In 2015 Burns became Deputy Director (Vice Chair) for Research and Programs for the Department of Pathology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She also served as Director of the Physician-Scientist Training Program for the school. In 2020, Burns became Department Chair of the Department of Pathology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Pathology; Senior Hematopathologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School.

Research

Burns studies self-propagating retrotransposons and their role in human disease. Her research challenges the view that such elements are nonfunctional and serve as “junk DNA.” Her lab has developed techniques for mapping the mobile insertion sites of repetitive DNAs and transposable elements in the human genome. This research suggests that transposons play a role in cancer and in autoimmune diseases. LINE-1 expression is a characteristic of human cancers. The Burns lab developed the first commercial monoclonal antibody for detection of LINE-1-encoded RNA-binding protein. Burns' research on LINE-1 expression seeks to develop new treatment approaches for cancer.

Awards 2008, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists 2018, elected member, American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) 2021, M. Daria Haust Lecturer of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen's University at Kingston 2024, Interurban Clinical Club (ICC), Boston

Selected publications Matzuk, MM; Burns, KH; Viveiros, MM; Eppig, JJ (21 June 2002). "Intercellular communication in the mammalian ovary: oocytes carry the conversation". Science. 296 (5576): 2178–80. Bibcode:2002Sci...296.2178M. doi:10.1126/science.1071965. PMID 12077402. Huang, Cheng Ran Lisa; Burns, Kathleen H.; Boeke, Jef D. (15 December 2012). "Active Transposition in Genomes". Annual Review of Genetics. 46: 651–675. doi:10.1146/annurev-genet-110711-155616. ISSN 0066-4197. PMC 3612533. PMID 23145912. Burns, KH (July 2017). "Transposable elements in cancer". Nature Reviews. Cancer. 17 (7): 415–424. doi:10.1038/nrc.2017.35. PMID 28642606. Bourque, G; Burns, KH; Gehring, M; Gorbunova, V; Seluanov, A; Hammell, M; Imbeault, M; Izsvák, Z; Levin, HL; Macfarlan, TS; Mager, DL; Feschotte, C (19 November 2018). "Ten things you should know about transposable elements". Genome Biology. 19 (1): 199. Bibcode:2018GenBi..19..199B. doi:10.1186/s13059-018-1577-z. PMC 6240941. PMID 30454069. Burns, Kathleen H. (24 January 2020). "Our Conflict with Transposable Elements and Its Implications for Human Disease". Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease. 15: 51–70. doi:10.1146/annurev-pathmechdis-012419-032633. ISSN 1553-4006. PMID 31977294. ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes, Consortium (February 2020). "Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes". Nature. 578 (7793): 82–93. Bibcode:2020Natur.578...82I. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-1969-6. PMC 7025898. PMID 32025007. Cortés-Ciriano, I; Lee, JJ; Xi, R; Jain, D; Jung, YL; Yang, L; Gordenin, D; Klimczak, LJ; Zhang, CZ; Pellman (March 2020). "Comprehensive analysis of chromothripsis in 2,658 human cancers using whole-genome sequencing". Nature Genetics. 52 (3): 331–341. doi:10.1038/s41588-019-0576-7. PMC 7058534. PMID 32025003. Burns, Kathleen H. (22 April 2022). "Repetitive DNA in disease". Science. 376 (6591): 353–354. Bibcode:2022Sci...376..353B. doi:10.1126/science.abl7399. PMID 35446653. de Santiago, Pamela R.; Sato, Sho; Zhang, Stephanie J.; Dougher, Meaghan C.; Devins, Kyle M.; Bilecz, Agnes J.; Rayamajhi, Sagar; Mingo, Gabriel; Rendulich, Hannah S.; Feng, Yi; Wu, Connie; Taylor, Martin S.; Zhuravlev, Yelena; Jung, Euihye; Omran, Dalia K.; Wang, Tian-Li; Shih, Ie-Ming; Schwartz, Lauren E.; Kim, Sarah; Morgan, Mark A.; Tanyi, Janos L.; Burns, Kathleen H.; Lengyel, Ernst; Parra-Herran, Carlos; Godwin, Andrew K.; Walt, David R.; Drapkin, Ronny (6 March 2025). "LINE-1 ORF1p expression occurs in clear cell ovarian carcinoma precursors and is a candidate blood biomarker". npj Precision Oncology. 9 (1) 62: 1–12. doi:10.1038/s41698-025-00849-1. ISSN 2397-768X. PMC 11885553. PMID 40050409.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kathleen H. Burns

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kathleen H. Burns claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kathleen H. Burns before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kathleen H. Burns ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kathleen H. Burns

In research: Kathleen H. Burns appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kathleen H. Burns in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kathleen H. Burns is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Annual Reviews (publisher) editors, Baylor College of Medicine alumni, Cancer researchers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kathleen H. Burns outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kathleen H. Burns in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Kathleen H. Burns in simple terms?

Kathleen H. Burns, Ph.D., M.D., is a Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Chair of the Department of Pathology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Why does Kathleen H. Burns matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kathleen H. Burns?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kathleen H. Burns.