Dr. Jordan Burke ('07, B.S., Biochemistry) involved in breakthrough science
Dr. Jordan E. Halsig Burke ('07, B.S., Biochemistry) is among the top scientists involved in the development of a simple blood test, called Shield, to screen for colorectal cancer when it is still in its early stages and usually curable. The test was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Research has shown that more than three-quarters of people who die of colon cancer did not receive the recommended screening. The FDA approval and Medicare coverage makes screening tests more broadly accessible and propel blood-based testing and CRC screening into a new era. Shield reportedly works by finding the genetic material that a tumor sheds into the bloodstream. The test could easily be incorporated into an annual physical, meaning more people can get it done. It is not a perfect substitute for a colonoscopy, which could be recommended if the test is positive.
Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Founded in 2012, Guardant is transforming patient care and accelerating new cancer therapies by providing critical insights into what drives disease through its advanced blood and tissue tests, real-world data and AI analytics.
Guardant tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care, including screening to find cancer early, monitoring for recurrence in early-stage cancer, and treatment selection for patients with advanced cancer. More significantly, this type of screening represents the future of fighting cancer. Researchers are developing tests that could find, in a single sample of blood, signs of multiple kinds of cancer — before they bring on symptoms and while they are most treatable.
Dr. Burke is Associate Director at Guardant Health, joining the team in 2019 to launch Shield and GuardantREVEAL through the FDA approval process.
She attended Northern High School, graduated with high honors from the University of Maryland in biochemistry, achieved her Ph.D. in biochemistry/genetics at the University of Wisconsin, and was sponsored by the American Cancer Society in her postdoctoral research at the University of California/San Francisco in RNA genetics before moving on to Guardant. She was also a Banneker Key scholarship recipient and was a member of the Honors College during her time at the university.
She has published 14 authored/coauthored scientific articles and collaborated on many others. She has a patent pending for her work on Methods of Detecting Genomic Rearrangements Using Cell Free Nucleic Acids. She lives in San Francisco with husband Tim, a senior software engineer at nVIDIA, and their two children.
--source: - The Garrett County Republican
