This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Javed Butler, MD: A nationally recognized HF investigator
As a physician and researcher specializing in the management and treatment of HF, Javed Butler, MD, MPH, MBA, FACC, FAHA, FESC, has studied the entire spectrum of HF from prevention to treatment, with a special emphasis on management of patients with advanced HF.
As a pre-eminent researcher, Butler has been involved in myriad multicenter landmark trials, including work on interventions to predict and reduce the onset of HF in elderly populations by investigating novel biomarkers for risk prediction beyond traditional risk factors. His research has also involved understanding how best to conduct HF clinical trials, with a focus on early drug development.
Butler, a native of Pakistan, received his medical training at Aga Khan University in Karachi. After completing his residency and a year as chief medical resident in internal medicine primary care at Yale University, he completed a fellowship in cardiovascular diseases and then advanced fellowships in HF and heart transplant at Vanderbilt University, complemented by cardiac imaging training at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In 1999, Butler transitioned to assistant professor of medicine, and was subsequently named the co-director of the HF program and medical director of the heart transplant and heart-lung transplant programs at Vanderbilt University. Coinciding with his tenure, Butler was director of the heart transplant program at Tennessee Valley Healthcare in Nashville and an associate clinical coordinator at the Center for Healthcare Quality, Tennessee’s Medicare peer-review and quality-improvement organization.
In 2006, Butler joined the faculty at Emory University as an associate professor of medicine and also served as the director of HF research, and was named full professor in 2010.
Since October 2014, Butler has been co-director of the Heart Institute and chief of the division of cardiology at Stony Brook University in New York.
Butler has contributed to more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, and additionally many book chapters, editorials and case reports. He has participated in more than 50 clinical trials, served as the principal investigator for the NIH Heart Failure Network at Emory University prior to moving to Stony Brook University, and services on the steering committee, data and safety monitoring board and events committee of many international clinical trials.
Additionally, Butler is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s cardiology board and serves as the deputy chief science officer for the American Heart Association and as a member of the Executive Council of the Heart Failure Society of America.
Butler has also served on the editorial committees of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Journal, European Journal of Heart Failure and JACC: Heart Failure. He has also been cited numerous times in America’s Best Doctors.
What do you do when you’re not practicing medicine?
At this point in my career, if you include research, training and administrative responsibilities as part of practicing medicine, then unfortunately there is not enough time left to do much — but nothing is more pleasurable than spending time with my family.
If you hadn’t gone into cardiology or medicine, what would you have done?
Hands down, law. My father was a lawyer, my uncle was a lawyer, my maternal grandfather was a lawyer and, honestly, every few years I think about going to law school. I went into cardiology because my mother wanted me to go into medicine. She grew up with a father who was a lawyer and her husband was a lawyer, and she said, “I’m done with lawyers.”
What would you consider one of your biggest successes in your specialty?
Mentoring. Helping trainees and junior faculty to navigate what they want to do with their careers in terms of getting them situated, including how to think about what they want and what direction they should choose.
What was the last book you read?
The last book I read was Barnyard Dance before putting my daughter to bed. During my pre-children days, I was into existential literature. One of the books that has influenced me a lot and left an impression was The Fall by Albert Camus.
Whom do you most admire and what would you ask if you had 5 minutes with him/her?
On a personal level, I admire my father the most. He was a quiet person, very conscientious. Right now with some professional and personal challenges and decisions, I wouldn’t mind having a few minutes to see how he made his decisions to get some advice from him.
Whom do you consider a mentor?
Although I have been very fortunate to have interacted with many great teachers, the person who I consider my mentor was Gottlieb Friesinger, MD, at Vanderbilt University. During your career, you meet a lot of people who either have specific skills in medicine, certain procedures or just how to become a good doctor — examine the patient, look into the patient. But there are few people that you meet along the way that focus on how to make you a better human being. Dr. Friesinger was one of those people.
What is the best advice you ever received?
Dr. Friesinger had such impeccably high ethical and moral standards that I enjoyed working with him even after I left Vanderbilt. Even when I was in Atlanta, about twice a year I used to meet him in Nashville and go out for 4-hour lunches with him to benefit from his wisdom. The best advice I received from him is not to be too overly worried about credit and to just do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing.
What kind of diet and exercise regimen do you follow?
I tend to contain my diet to chicken nuggets while carting around a 3-and-a-half-year-old. I try to get my 10,000 steps in and avoid high-carb foods, but life is busy right now.
Photo courtesy of: Javed Butler, MD; printed with permission.
What do you think will have the biggest influence on cardiology in the next 10 years?
We all have a lot of hopes for the omics revolution, but will probably not realize its potential within the next 10 years. I think wearable and remote technology and how it plays into how we diagnose diseases and practice medicine, probably will be the biggest changes in the next 10 years.
What is your favorite travel destination?
Right now it’s Disney World. I have more memories in Disney than anywhere else, and we go there every year. No matter how many times you go, it is always fun. If you’re asking me for an adult moment, Paris is tough to beat.
What is your favorite restaurant?
In terms of a place that I went to once, it would be Funky Gourmet in Athens, Greece. But if you are asking about places that we go to whenever we get a chance, then it would be a tie between Bacchanalia and Rumi’s Kitchen in Atlanta.