Jonathan T. Butcher
Associate Professor
Associate Chair
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Education
Post Doc 2004-2007, Developmental Biology, Medical University of South Carolina
Ph.D. 2004, Mechanobiology, Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S. 2000, Impact Biomechanics, University of Virginia
B.S. 2000, Mechanical Engineering, University of Virginia
Selected Awards
Lillihei Young Investigator Award – International Society for Heart Valve Disease, 2007
Rita Shaffer Young Investigator Award – Biomedical Engineering Society, 2009
Jonathan Butcher currently directs the Cardiovascular Developmental Bioengineering Laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. He joined the department in July 2007 as an Assistant Professor.
Prior to Cornell, Jonathan graduated in 2000 with a dual BS/MS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia, where he studied impact biomechanics at the automobile safety laboratory. Jonathan earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2004, focusing on the mechanobiology of the aortic valve under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Nerem. There he discovered unique mechanosensitive properties of valvular endothelial biology and developed the first completely biological tissue engineered heart valve leaflet using native cells. This led him to study further into developmental biology as a NIH postdoctoral fellow in the departments of Cell Biology and Anatomy and Pediatrics Cardiology at the Medical University of South Carolina under the mentorship of Dr. Roger Markwald. He trained in cell and molecular biology of embryonic heart development while developing novel technologies for probing biophysical perturbations of these processes. He won the BMES 2009 Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award for the unique way in which he has combined developmental biology with engineering for applications in regenerative medicine.
Jonathan collaborates with researchers in several departments across campus as well as at the Cornell Veterinary College, Weill Medical School, and Guthrie Clinic in PA. He sits on the scientific committee for the working group for heart valve biology and tissue engineering within the Society for Heart Valve Disease.
Jonathan and his wife Christine live the small town life in Ithaca with five kids (Maggie, Jack, Thomas, Emily, and Charlie) and a dog (Daisy). Occasionally you can see him trying to keep up on the soccer field.