David E. Olson is an American chemist and neuroscientist. He is an associate professor of chemistry, biochemistry and molecular medicine at the University of California, Davis,[1][2][3] and is the founding director of the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics.[4]

Olson is best known for his work investigating neuroplasticity promoting compounds, especially the potential of psychedelic drugs, including ketamine and serotonergic psychedelics, to alter brain structure and function. Olson also coined a term to refer to small molecules that are fast acting, durable neuroplasticity promoting compounds: psychoplastogens. Psychoplastogens are being developed to treat a wide variety of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, including depression, PTSD, and substance use disorders, among many others.[5][6]

Early life

Olson received his B.S. from Union College in 2006 with a major in chemistry and a minor in biology.

He then worked briefly at Albany Molecular Research Inc. before completing a Ph.D. in chemistry at Stanford University in 2011, where he worked in the laboratory of Justin Du Bois, developing a variety of methods for synthesizing nitrogen-containing compounds.[7]

Olson undertook postdoctoral research in neuroscience at the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard where he focused on the therapeutic potential of HDAC inhibitors.[8]

Career

In 2015 Olson started his independent career at the University of California, Davis, with a joint appointment in the department of chemistry (college of letters and science) and the department of biochemistry and molecular medicine (school of medicine).[1] He is also an affiliate member of the Center for Neuroscience and the UC Davis Memory and Plasticity Program.[9] In 2021, Olson was promoted to associate professor with tenure. In 2019, Olson co-founded Delix Therapeutics—a biotech company focused on developing novel neuroplasticity-promoting therapeutics for central nervous system diseases (CNS).[10] Olson served as the company's chief scientific officer until 2021, when he transitioned to the roles of chief innovation officer and head of the scientific advisory board.[11]

Awards

  • 2023 Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences (MINS) Rising Star Award[12][13]
  • 2023 UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow[14]
  • 2022 Sacramento Business Journal's 40 Under 40[15]
  • 2021 Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award[16]
  • 2021 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar[17]
  • 2021 Life Young Investigator Award[18]
  • 2020 Jordi Folch-Pi Award from the American Society for Neurochemistry[19]

Other activities

Currently, he serves on the editorial advisory boards of the journals ACS Chemical Neuroscience[20] and ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.[21]

Published works

Olson has published numerous scientific publications.[22] Several of his key contributions to the field are cited below:

References

  1. ^ a b Marrush, Najwa (2017-07-27). "David E. Olson, Ph.D." UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  2. ^ "David E. Olson | Chemistry". 13 June 2017.
  3. ^ "David E. Olson, Ph.D. | UC Davis Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine".
  4. ^ "Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics". neurotherapeutics.ucdavis.edu.
  5. ^ Yakowicz, Will. "Delix Therapeutics Pursues A Psychedelic-Inspired Medicine Without The Trip". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  6. ^ Smith, Dana G. (2022-07-15). "Opinion | Taking the Magic Out of Magic Mushrooms". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  7. ^ Olson, David E.; Maruniak, Autumn; Malhotra, Sushant; Trost, Barry M.; Du Bois, J. (July 2011). "Synthesis and Reactivity of Unique Heterocyclic Structures en Route to Substituted Diamines". Organic Letters. 13 (13): 3336–3339. doi:10.1021/ol2010769. PMC 3123413. PMID 21618989.[non-primary source needed]
  8. ^ Olson, David E.; Sleiman, Sama F.; Bourassa, Megan W.; Wagner, Florence F.; Gale, Jennifer P.; Zhang, Yan-Ling; Ratan, Rajiv R.; Holson, Edward B. (April 2015). "Hydroxamate-Based Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Can Protect Neurons from Oxidative Stress via a Histone Deacetylase-Independent Catalase-Like Mechanism". Chemistry & Biology. 22 (4): 439–445. doi:10.1016/j.chembiol.2015.03.014. PMC 4562013. PMID 25892200.[non-primary source needed]
  9. ^ "Leadership". UC DAVIS MEMORY AND PLASTICITY PROGRAM. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  10. ^ Yakowicz, Will. "Delix Therapeutics Pursues A Psychedelic-Inspired Medicine Without The Trip". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  11. ^ LaHucik, Kyle (2021-09-27). "Delix raises $70M to test psychedelic analogs for treating brain disorders in clinical trials next year". Fierce Biotech. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  12. ^ "38th Annual MINS Symposium – Year of Psychedelics – Center for Neuroscience & Society".
  13. ^ Watry, Greg (5 May 2023). "David Olson Receives Rising Star Award in Neurobiology of Psychedelics | UC Davis College of Letters and Science". UC Davis College of Letters and Science. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024.
  14. ^ "13 Honored as Chancellor's Fellows". 14 February 2023.
  15. ^ Oxford, Lindsay (11 November 2022). "40 Under 40 honoree: David Olson, Delix Therapeutics". Sacramento Business Journal.
  16. ^ "David Olson".
  17. ^ "2021 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards". 30 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Life 2020 Young Investigator Award". mdpi.org.
  19. ^ "American Society for Neurochemistry - Recipients of the Jordi Folch-Pi Award".
  20. ^ "ACS Chemical Neuroscience Editors & Editorial Board". pubs.acs.org. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  21. ^ "ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science Editors & Editorial Board". pubs.acs.org. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  22. ^ Search Results for author Olson DE on PubMed.
Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_E._Olson
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