Jonathan T. Butcher, Ph.D.
Professor
Founding Director of Undergraduate Studies
Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering
Cornell University
Seminar Information
The embryonic heart grows over 100-fold in size while transitioning from a single pulsatile tube to a 4 chambered and valved structure sufficient for sustaining one-way blood flow for over 2.5 billion beats in a lifetime. Complex anatomical shapes, multilayer matrix structure, and tissue mechanics are evolved over fetal gestation and pediatric life via complex interactions between resident epithelial/endothelial and mesenchymal cells. Little is known regarding the mechanistic programs governing clinically critical valvular growth and maturation as they are relatively insensitive to prevailing genetic tools. Our research program has studied the complementary role of mechanical forces in sculpting ventricular myocardium and valves in concert with gestational growth and increasing hemodynamic demands. We have recently identified novel mechanobiological switches that operate divergent signaling programs at a local level to control growth vs. maturation signaling programs. We have further studied the activity of these same programs during postnatal valvular tissue homeostasis and disease pathogenesis. Intriguingly, we identify an inflammation triggered natural reprogramming event in diseased heart valves by which endothelium reacquire progenitor states, but in the pathological milieu become calcifying progenitors. These findings establish that valves sustain a natural collective interaction coordinating tissue growth and remodeling that could be controlled to reduce pathogenic pressures like calcification. We further develop and implement novel biomanufacturing strategies to harness these natural engineering principles to support the development of regenerative medicine strategies, including pharmacological targets and living tissue replacements.
Jonathan is Professor of the Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University, where he has taught since 2007. Jonathan’s research focuses on understanding how tissue assembly and maturation during embryonic development are controlled by mechanical signaling, and in turn how these developmental signaling
pathways are reactivated in postnatal diseases. He applies this information to engineer new regenerative and therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular diseases. His research is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the American Heart Association. Dr. Butcher has been recognized by the Lillehei Prize (2007) of the Society for Heart Valve Disease, the Rita Schaffer Award by the Biomedical Engineering Society (2009) and the NAE Frontiers in Engineering (2010, 2011, 2014) and recently as an HHMI Gilliam Mentor (2023). Dr. Butcher is Fellow of the American Heart Association, the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is also the Founding Director of Undergraduate Studies for the undergraduate major of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell, which began in 2015. He has published over 120 journal articles and book chapters, with 7 patents issued or pending. He has mentored 12 Postdoctoral and 24 PhD trainees to date towards acquiring careers in academia (11 tenured/tenure track faculty) or senior industry leadership positions. He has further mentored over 200 Masters and undergraduate students. He is also a visiting professor at the Technical University of Eindhoven, where he was on sabbatical in 2021-22. He lives in Ithaca NY with his wife Christine and their five children.