Martin D. Burke, M.D., Ph.D. is the May and Ving Lee Professor for Chemical Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Founding Director of the Molecule Maker Lab, and co- Founder of the Molecule Maker Lab Institute. He earned his B.A. in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University, Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University, and M.D. from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program. He also helped launch the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, serving as its inaugural Associate Dean for Research. Burke pioneered blocc chemistry: iterative carbon-carbon bond formation with MIDA/TIDA boronates that is friendly to automation, AI, and anyone. His lab has leveraged blocc chemistry to achieve molecular prosthetics, renal sparing antifungals, and top-in-class organic lasers. Burke has also integrated blocc chemistry with AI to first achieve closed-loop learning in organic chemistry. More than 300 of Burke’s MIDA/TIDA boronate blocks are now commercially available and have enabled over 1,000 publications and 300 patent applications by other research groups worldwide. Burke has co-founded five biotech companies that have collectively advanced seven new drug candidates into clinical trials. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of the AAAS, among numerous awards for research, teaching, and mentorship.

• Blocc chemistry – a modular platform for small molecule synthesis that is friendly to automation, AI, and non-specialists
• Molecular prosthetics – the discovery and study of small molecules with protein-like functions.

The Burke Lab develops blocc chemistry for small molecule synthesis and functional discovery. Blocc chemistry is chemistry that machines can do. It is friendly to automation, AI, and non-specialists. Our work aims to overcome the long-standing “synthesis bottleneck,” which limits both the efficiency of small molecule construction and broad participation in molecular innovation.

Burke’s lab continues to seek advances in stereospecific Csp³ cross-coupling and programmable covalent polycyclizations to convert linear precursors accessible with blocc chemistry into complex polycyclic natural product-like compounds.

Blocc chemistry is an automatable, modular synthesis platform based on iterative coupling of iminodiacetic acid boronate building blocks, enabling rapid access to complex small molecules at the push of a button. This technology has laid the foundation for the discovery and study of small molecules with protein-like functions, or molecular prosthetics, which have shown therapeutic potential for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and anemia.

Recent integration with artificial intelligence and automated functional testing have enabled closed-loop discovery of new molecular functions, including organic lasers and photovoltaics.

Through the creation of the Molecule Maker Lab at U of I and co-founding the Molecule Maker Lab Institute, the Burke Group is expanding access to molecular design for both specialists and non-specialists alike—advancing the long-term goal of democratizing molecular innovation and empowering the next generation of molecular inventors worldwide.

Major National and International Honors

• Member, National Academy of Medicine (2022)
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2022)
• Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator, American Chemical Society (2013)
• Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society (2011)
• Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society (2013)
• Thieme–IUPAC Prize in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2014)
• Mukaiyama Award, The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan (2020)
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist (2009)

Significant Institutional and Leadership Awards

• Presidential Medallion, University of Illinois (2021)
• Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumnus Award (2021)
• LAS Impact Award, University of Illinois (2021)
• University Scholars Award, University of Illinois (2017)

Teaching and Mentorship Recognition

• Teacher Ranked as Excellent, UIUC Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning (multiple years, most recently 2023)
• Nobel Laureate Signature Award in Graduate Education in Chemistry, American Chemical Society (2017)

Early Career and Innovation Recognition

• Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award (2008)
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship (2009)
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2008)
• Technology Review “Top 35 Innovators Under 35” (2008)

Department of Chemistry
University of Illinois
454 RAL, Box 52-5
600 South Mathews Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801

(217) 244-8726