Diversity in Life Sciences

Dr. Michael Burton studies how the immune system communicates with the peripheral nervous system to regulate pain, reproductive physiology and energy homeostasis. His Neuroimmunology and Behavior Lab at The University of Texas at Dallas uses translational molecular and integrative neurobiology to learn how lifestyle factors like diet, alcohol and surgery influence neuroimmune interactions across age and gender.

He has investigated the effects of cell-specific toll-like receptor 4 signaling on neuropathic pain, inflammatory pain and metabolic stress, as well as the impact of peripheral lipid signaling on diet-induced diabetes and energy homeostasis, and glucose metabolism on neuroinflammation and feeding.

Burton has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as The Journal of Neuroscience, Nature’s Scientific Reports, Neuropharmacology, Pain Medicine, Journal of Neuroimmunology, and Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

In 2016 he received the only K22 grant that year from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke intended to help a postdoc transition to a faculty position. In 2019 he received the National Institute of Health Pain Consortium Mitchell Max Award for Research Excellence. He was honored with Congressional recognition for science research and leadership in 2021, and he was chosen as a Society for Neuroscience Rising Star/SFNova Lecturer. He also has been selected for honors from the Rita Allen Foundation, the Endocrine Society, the American Pain Society and the American Society for Cell Biology.