Dr. Donald H. Burke has been awarded a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Chemistry. Dr. Burke's doctoral degree was from the University of California/Berkeley under the supervision of Professor John Hearst. Dr. Burke will continue his research at the University of Colorado at Boulder under the sponsorship of Professor Larry Gold. Dr. Burke's postdoctoral training will provide him with the skills necesary to isolate and analyze RNA molecules with interesting chemical and catalytic properties. Longer term, Dr. Burke will study RNA catalysts for reactions germane to prebiotic chemistry. Specifically, catalysts will be sought for each of the classes of reactions represented by the citric acid cycle, including condensations, hydrations, dehydrations, decarboxylations, oxidations and substrate-level phosphorylations. %%% The Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Chemistry Program is viewed as an important infrastructural program designed to broaden the knowledge and experience of new Ph.D.s and attract them into meaningful careers in contemporary chemical research and teaching.
