Merlin G. Butler

Merlin G. Butler is an American physician scientist and professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center's Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics. He is board-certified in Clinical Genetics and Clinical Cytogenetics and was inducted into the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics in 1993 as a founding fellow. He has over 500 publications in peer-reviewed journals, numerous book chapters.

Early life and research
Merlin G. Butler was born in the sandhills of Nebraska in 1952. After graduating from high school from Stuart, Nebraska, he attended Chadron State College in Nebraska, where he studied biology and earned a Bachelor of Arts in education in 1974 and a Bachelor of Science with a Biology- Pre-Medicine major in 1975. Butler earned his M.D. in 1978 from the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. in Medical Genetics in 1984 from Indiana University. Between 1980 and 1984, he completed an American Board of Medical Genetics-accredited fellowship in Medical Genetics in Indiana and was named a Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Genetics in 1984.

Career
Butler has performed extramurally funded research on several genetic and cytogenetic disorders and conditions including Prader-Willi syndrome, the first recognized human disorder with errors in genomic imprinting which he characterized. The study of Angelman, a sister syndrome to Prader-Willi syndrome, as well as fragile X and Burnside- Butler syndromes, both common genetic causes of autism have been focused areas of research through his career expanding more than 40 years. Besides the study of genetics of rare syndromes, autism and obesity, he has also invested time in the characterization and treatment of genetic illnesses and use of pharmacogenetics for the selection of medications to treat disorders based on the patient's DNA patterns that influence medication use and treatment success.

Butler was a tenured associate professor of Pediatrics and Pathology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2008, he was appointed Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center and became the Director of the Division of Research and Genetics and Director of the Genetics Clinic.

Awards
He served as chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of the United States of America for 25 years, where he received the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, he was a 1986 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska and 2007 recipient of Indiana University's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Publication

 * Epstein LJ, Kristo D, Strollo PJ, Friedman N, Malhotra A, Patil SP, Ramar K, Rogers R, Schwab RJ, Weaver EM, Weinstein. Clinical guideline for the evaluation, management and long-term care of obstructive sleep apnea in adults. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
 * Heinzer R, Vat S, Marques-Vidal P, Marti-Soler H, Andries D, Tobback N, Mooser V, Preisig M, Malhotra A, Waeber G, Vollenweider P, Tafti M, Haba-Rubio J. Prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in the general population: the HypnoLaus study. The Lancet.
 * Benjafield AV, Ayas NT, Eastwood PR, Heinzer R, Ip MSM, Morrell MJ, Nunez CM, Patel SR, Penzel T, pin JL, Peppard PE, Sinha S, Tufik S, Valentine K, Malhotra A. Estimation of the global prevalence and burden of obstructive sleep apnoea: a literature-based analysis. The Lancet.
 * Ayas NT, White DP, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, Speizer FE, Malhotra A, and Hu FB. A prospective study of sleep duration and coronary heart disease in women. JAMA Internal Medicine.
 * Jordan AS, McSharry DG, Malhotra A. Adult obstructive sleep apnea. The Lancet.
 * Sitzmann, Adam F.; Hagelstrom, Robert T.; Tassone, Flora; Hagerman, Randi J.; Butler, Merlin G. (January 2018). "Rare FMR1 gene mutations causing fragile X syndrome: A review". American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A.