Robert J. Butera, Jr. (Rob)

National Institutes of Health

Laboratory of Neural Control, NINDS
Cellular and Systems Neurobiology Section

and

Mathematical Research Branch, NIDDK

9190 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 350
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 496-9644
email: butera@helix.nih.gov

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, April 1996
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX USA.
Thesis title: Dissection and Reduction of a Modeled Bursting Neuron
Thesis supervisor: John W. Clark, Jr.

Master of Science, January, 1994
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX USA.
Thesis title: Implementation and Analysis of Neuromodulatory Mechanisms
in a Model of Neuron R15 in Aplysia
Thesis supervisor: John W. Clark, Jr.

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Highest Honors, Co-op program), March, 1991
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA USA

Research Experience


Postdoctoral Research Fellow (August 1998 - present)
Laboratory for Neural Control, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (August 1996 - July 1998)
Mathematical Research Branch, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A.

Research in both of the above appointments is centered on modeling the rhythmic network responsible for the control of respiration in mammals. This project is in collaboration with Jeff Smith (NINDS, Lab of Neural Control) and John Rinzel (Center for Neural Science, NYU). See Research for more info on this and other research projects. Also investigating the dynamical properties of bursting systems and the application of real-time computing (specifically, RTLinux) to model-reference control of electrophysiological experiments.

M.S. and Ph.D. Student (1991 - 1996)
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX USA.
Research was part of an interdisciplinary bioengineering program and in collaboration with Dr. J. H. Byrne, Dept. of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX USA. Developed a model of bursting neuron R15 in Aplysia and the effects of neuromodulators on the cell. Later work focused on the application of mathematical techniques to 1) reduce the order of the model and 2) study the dynamics of the model in a low-order state-space. Also worked in collaboration with Dr. Wayne Giles, University of Calgary Medical School, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, developing model-based studies to assess the validity of voltage-clamp experiments in cardiac myocytes.

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant and Recitation Leader (1991 - 1996)
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Rice University
Supervised labs, developed projects, and graded papers for Electronic Circuits, Bioengineering, and Nonlinear Dynamics. Taught one recitation/week and graded projects for Intro. to Engineering Computation.

Recitation Leader (1990 - 1991)
School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Taught two lectures per week and graded tests for Differential Equations. Tutor in a drop-in math help lab.

Work Experience

Systems Analyst, Georgia Tech Research Institute, Systems Engineering Laboratory, March 1991 - August 1991
Developed embedded real-time interrupt-driven applications in assembly language (F9450 and 8086) and C. Wrote an interrupt-driven data bus controller in assembly language that interfaced with a MIL-STD-1553 data bus transceiver. ;Wrote a PC based MIL-STD-1553 databus analyzer in C and assembly language.

Co-op Student, Georgia Tech Research Institute, Systems Engineering Laboratory, June 1987 - August 1991
Worked seven full-time work quarters as a co-op student on various technology upgrade programs related to the ALR-69 Radar Warning Receiver (funded by the USAF). Undergraduate Employee of the Year, 1989. Experience in integrated microprocessor and digital hardware design, FPGA (Xilinx) design and routing, developing complex IEEE-488 databus procedures for data acquisition and hardware tuning, large-scale (40+ states) state machine design, and using advanced (CASE) integrated hardware/software debugging tools.

Publications and Presentations (follow this link)

Computing Skills

Languages/Libraries: C,Perl,Tcl/Tk,Fortran,C++,Assembler,Forth,MATLAB,LAPACK/LINPACK

Platforms: UNIX systems, Sequent Symmetry (shared memory parallel), PVM (distributed memory network parallel), Cray C90 (vector)

Awards and Scholarships

Professional Affiliations

Professional Service

Reviewer: Journal of Neuroscience, Mathematical Biosciences, Journal of Physics A

Academic Service

Rob Butera<butera@helix.nih.gov>