Member Profile
David Butler
Discovering how to create appropriate cell-matrix interactions for improving tendon repair
Professor Butler and his team seek to design and fabricate functional tissue engineered “constructs” that surgeons can use to replace load-bearing connective tissues like tendons that connect muscle to... More »
About Me
Dr. David L. Butler is currently Professor and Program Head of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. After receiving his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics and Biomechanics from Michigan State University, he joined the University of Cincinnati in 1976. His research in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics focused on ligament and tendon biomechanics and in vivo function as well as methods to more effectively repair and replace injured soft tissues. In 1988, he received both the Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award, the highest research award given by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Gustas Larson Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He was also the 1990 recipient of the Sigma Xi Award at UC. In 1995, Dr. Butler became a fellow of ASME and an inaugural fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers. In 1996, he established collaborations with colleagues at Case Western Reserve University and Osiris Therapeutics to develop research expertise using autologous mesenchymal stem cells to enhance tendon repair. His laboratory is now pursuing methods to optimize 3-D tissue engineering repair through control of cell density, scaffold selection and environmental stimulation as well as knowledge of gene expression during growth and development. In 2001, he helped to found the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UC and served as Principal Investigator of a Whitaker Foundation Special Opportunity Award to create the graduate program for BME. In 2007, Dr. Butler and his team received a second Kappa Delta Research Award from AAOS in the area of tendon repair using mesenchymal stem cells and mechanical stimulation. He is funded by three NIH R01 grants (two as PI) including a recent Bioengineering Research Partnership Grant with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He is co-PI of NSF IGERT grant, “Bio-Applications of Membrane Science and Technology.” He has over 130 peer-reviewed publications in biomechanics and tissue engineering and has just recently stepped down as a permanent member of Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Study Section of the National Institutes of Health. Currently Chair of the US National Committee on Biomechanics, Dr. Butler is helping to develop policy and research direction in biomechanics at the national level. He is also leading efforts to establish success criteria for musculoskeletal tissue repair and replacement, having just completed a consensus conference with surgeons, biologists and biomaterial scientists from industry, government and academia. The published white paper is helping to guide universities, government labs and industry as they seek to perform basic research and develop novel tissue engineering therapies for damaged and diseased musculoskeletal tissues.
