Prof. Roger F. Butterworth University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada

With academic qualifications from The University of London (UK), in Chemistry and Physics (BSc, 1965), Carbohydrate Biochemistry (PhD, 1969) and Experimental Medicine (DSc, 1996), Dr Butterworth was appointed to the Faculty of Medicine (Department of Medicine), University of Montreal in 1976 and promoted to the rank of Full Professor in... read more1989. He holds a cross-appointment as Adjunct Professor in the Division of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. In addition to his academic responsibilities, he is currently Scientific Director of the Neuroscience Research Unit, St Luc’s Hospital (University of Montreal). Dr Butterworth’s research interests are focussed primarily on the pathogenesis and new approaches to the management and treatment of metabolic encephalopathies including congenital urea cycle enzymopathies and the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, as well as acquired hyperammonemic syndromes such as hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a major neuropsychiatric consequence of both acute and chronic liver diseases. Dr Butterworth has over 6oo peer-reviewed scientific articles to his credit, the majority of which relate to his work on HE. Dr Butterworth’s contributions to HE research include an understanding of the mechanisms relating to the role of neurotoxins such as ammonia and manganese, of impaired inter-cellular signalling in the brain and of neuro-inflammatory mechanisms in relation to the pathogenesis of HE. Such studies have given rise to, for example, the rationale for the use of mild hypothermia in the prevention of brain edema and intracranial hypertension, a major cause of mortality resulting from acute liver failure and the use of central anti-inflammatory agents in HE therapy. Dr Butterworth was elected President of The International Society for Neurochemistry in 2006 and President of The International Society for Hepatic Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism(ISHEN) in 2007 and was appointed to the position of Editor-in-Chief of “Neurochemistry International” (Elsevier) and “Metabolic Brain Disease”(Springer). He has served on the Editorial boards of both Neuroscience and Liver journals including “Hepatology” and “Journal of Hepatology”. Funding of Dr Butterworth’s research comes primarily from The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).