Michael Butler PhD

Michael Butler is a Principal Investigator at the National Institute of Bioprocessing Research & Training (NIBRT), Adjunct Full Professor at University College Dublin as well as Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the University of Manitoba, Canada. He holds degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the Universities of Birmingham, London (UK), and Waterloo (Canada). After a period of several years as Principal Lecturer in Biotechnology at Manchester Metropolitan University, Dr. Butler was appointed as Professor and NSERC/Apotex Industrial Research Chair in Fermentation Technology in the Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba.

In 2008, he was named Distinguished Professor and in 2010 became Scientific Director of MabNet, an NSERC-funded national network focused on platform processes for monoclonal antibody production. His other appointments have included Associate Dean of Scientific Research at Manitoba and Visiting Scientist at MIT (USA), Animal Virus Research Institute (Pirbright, UK), and the Universities of Oxford and Rio de Janeiro.

His research work focuses on the development of bioprocesses using mammalian cells for the production of recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, and viral vaccines. He is particularly interested in the bioprocess conditions that can be used to control the biochemical structure of glycoproteins and hence the quality of biopharmaceuticals. He has always collaborated closely with the industry and is a past recipient of the Canadian national Synergy Award for University-Industry innovation. He has been President of the International Society for Protein Expression in Animal Cells (PEACe) and on the editorial board of several journals and major reference works including Encyclopedia of Cell Technology, Biotechnology Advances, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, and Comprehensive Biotechnology.