Laura Burke

About

Laura Burke is the founding dean of Regis College’s School of Health Sciences and a renowned public health expert whose notable research focuses on the impact of external factors on cancer.

Since being named dean in 2016, Dr. Burke has stewarded Health Sciences into a nationally respected school that prepares students to be leaders in the fields of health administration, medical imaging, public health, social work, and occupational therapy. Her leadership was integral in the establishment of the Regis College dental hygiene program and the development of the state-of-the-art Dental Center that opened its doors in Waltham in 2019. She has also helped develop a number of programs in the School of Health Sciences, including the public health major and environmental sustainability major.

She has also grown the School of Health Sciences’ research portfolio by providing more opportunities for students to travel internationally to conduct research, and through her oversight securing major National Institutes of Health grant funding for the school.

As a published researcher, Dr. Burke has studied extensively the impact external factors such as nutrition and smoking can have on cancer.

Recently, Dr. Burke led Regis College’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing a task force that implemented a successful on-campus testing protocol and established critical safety guidelines and recommendations that allowed for a safe return for students to campus.