Carl A. Burtis

Carl A. Burtis has distinguished himself in the field of biochemistry.

Carl A. Burtis

He is currently chief of clinical chemistry in the Health Services Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, living in the city of Oak Ridge.

Born in Flagstaff, Ariz., and raised in Montrose, Colo., Burtis attended Colorado State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in nutrition in 1959. He then came to Purdue, where he earned his master's and doctorate in biochemistry in 1964 and 1967, respectively. Postgraduate training included a year as a postdoctoral research associate in the Analytical Chemistry Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He subsequently became a permanent staff member of that laboratory in the Oak Ridge Body Fluids Analysis Group.

In 1969, Burtis joined Varian Aerograph in Walnut Creek, Calif., as senior chemist within the Liquid Chromatography Group. After one year, he returned to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and spent all but three of the remaining years of his career there. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology laboratory managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of Tennessee-Battelle.

Upon his return to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Burtis became the group leader of the Centrifugal Analyzer Group in the Molecular Anatomy Program. He transferred to the Chemical Technology Division in 1974 to become coordinator of its biotechnology program. His major activities have included the application of liquid chromatography to the separation of compounds of biological interest, and for five years he directed a group involved in the development and application of centrifugal analyzers to automated clinical analyses.

In 1976, Burtis accepted a position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga., as chief of the Analytical Biochemistry Branch, Clinical Chemistry Division. Three years later, he returned to Oak Ridge National Laboratory with a dual appointment in instrumentation and methodologies to detect and monitor exposure to environmental toxicants and the routine operation of the facility's clinical laboratory. He also served as a technical consultant to the UT-Battelle drug testing programs.

Burtis transferred to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Health Services Division in 1998, where his responsibilities now include oversight of the Clinical Laboratory, technical consultant to the drug testing program, and quality assurance officer for the Health Services Division.