Burns received her bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky, her master's degree from Columbia University, and her Ph.D. from Boston College.[2] Burns created the first federal initiatives in children's mental health services research at the National institute of Mental Health in the late 1980s.[3]
Burns held various positions at Boston College, Harvard University, Hood College, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University before moving to Duke.[2] Burns worked for 31 years at the Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Department at Duke University until her retirement in June 2020.[4] At Duke, she was co-director of the psychiatric, epidemiology, and health services research program from 1989 to 1997.[2]
Burns died on January 28, 2024, after living at the Carol Woods Retirement Community for three years.[5]