Dr. Jason M. Butler is the Director of Stem Cell Therapeutics and Professor of Medical Sciences at Hackensack Meridian Health’s Center for Discovery and Innovation and also holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Oncology at Georgetown University. Dr. Butler’s laboratory has dedicated itself to understanding how aged blood vessels disrupt healthy blood stem cell function and if these age-related deficiencies of the blood vessels enhance the progression of blood cancers such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The Butler lab has devised novel experimental models that allow them to manipulate blood vessels to "safeguard" healthy blood stem cells while increasing the susceptibility of AML cells to anti-cancer regimens.  The success of these studies will lead to the development of therapeutic strategies designed to augment the sensitivity of leukemic cells to chemotherapy, reducing AML-associated side effects and enhancing regeneration of a health blood system following myelosuppressive therapies.