Biography

Luke Erber grew up in Nigeria, West Africa before attending Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, Illinois. After completing his B.S. in Chemistry and Biology, Luke joined the lab of Dr. Anthony Baughn in the University of Minnesota’s Microbiology department. There he studied metabolic pathways in mycobacterium tuberculosis which confer resistance to the second line drug para-aminosalicylic acid. In 2013, Luke joined the biochemistry graduate program (BMBB) at the University of Minnesota and began working towards his Ph.D.  Under the mentorship of Dr. Yue Chen, Luke used proteomics methodologies and mass spectrometry to study the role of the post-translational modification proline hydroxylation in cancer biology. Following completion of his Ph.D. in 2019, Luke joined the lab of Dr. Natalia Tretyakova in the department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Minnesota. Under Dr. Tretyakova’s mentorship, Luke used high resolution mass spectrometry to investigate urinary biomarkers of 1,3-butadiene metabolism and DNA damage. In 2020, Luke joined the NIH funded Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) program. As a member of this program, Luke taught biochemistry at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) and biology at North Hennepin Community College (NHCC). During this phase, Luke was co-mentored by Dr. William Pomerantz and Dr. Natalia Tretyakova. He applied mass spectrometry to characterize molecular mechanisms defining protein-protein interactions and protein-DNA interactions. Luke joined the University of Kansas in 2023 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. His current research focuses on identifying, characterizing and regulating chromatin activity in cells using small molecules.  In his free time, he enjoys gardening, bicycling, and jigsaw puzzles.