Professor David E. Olson studied chemistry and neuroscience at Stanford University and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.  His academic lab at the University of California, Davis discovered that psychedelics from multiple chemical classes promote structural and functional neuroplasticity in the cortex.  They coined the term “psychoplastogen” to describe small molecules that produce rapid and long-lasting psychedelic- and ketamine-like effects on neuronal structure after a single dose, and they invented the first non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens capable of producing sustained therapeutic effects in preclinical models after a single dose.  Professor Olson's expertise spans central nervous system medicinal chemistry, molecular/cellular neurobiology, and behavioral neuropharmacology.  He is an associate editor at ACS Chemical Neuroscience and has received numerous awards including the Jordi Folch-Pi Award from the American Society for Neurochemistry, the Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award, the Life Young Investigator Award, and the Sacramento Business Journal's 40 Under 40, among many others.  He is the founding director of the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics and is a co-founder and the Chief Innovation Officer of Delix Therapeutics.

 

• Vargas, M. V.; Dunlap, L. E.; Dong, C.; Carter, S. J.; Tombari, R. J.; Jami, S. A.; Cameron, L. P.; Patel, S. D.; Hennessey, J. J.; Saeger, H. N.; McCorvy, J. D.; Gray, J. A.; Tian, L.; Olson, D. E. Psychedelics Promote Neuroplasticity Through Activation of Intracellular 5-HT2A Receptors. Science, 2023, 379, 700–706.
• Cameron, L. P.; Patel, S. D.; Vargas, M. V.; Barragan, E. V.; Saeger, H. N.; Warren, H. T.; Chow, W. L.; Gray, J. A.; Olson, D. E. 5-HT2ARs Mediate Therapeutic Behavioral Effects of Psychedelic Tryptamines. ACS Chem. Neurosci., 2023, 14, 351–358.
• Kwan, A. C.; Olson, D. E.; Preller, K. H.; Roth, B. L. The Neural Basis of Psychedelic Action. Nat. Neurosci., 2022, 25, 1407–1419.
• Dong, C.; Ly, C.; Dunlap, L. E.; Vargas, M. V.; Sun, J.; Hwang, I.-W.; Azinfar, A.; Oh, W. C.; Wetsel, W. C.; Olson, D. E.; Tian, L. Psychedelic-Inspired Drug Discovery Using an Engineered Biosensor. Cell, 2021, 184, 2779–2792.
• Olson, D. E. The Subjective Effects of Psychedelics May Not Be Necessary for Their Enduring Therapeutic Effects. ACS Pharmacol. Transl. Sci., 2020, 4, 563–567.
• Cameron, L. P.; Tombari, R. J.; Lu, J.; Pell, A. J.; Hurley, Z. Q.; Ehinger, Y.; Vargas, M. V.; McCarroll, M. N.; Taylor, J. C.; Myers-Turnbull, D.; Liu, T.; Yaghoobi, B.; Laskowski, L. J.; Anderson, E. I.; Zhang, G.; Viswanathan, J.; Brown, B. M.; Tjia, M.; Dunlap, L. E.; Rabow, Z. T.; Fiehn, O.; Wulff, H.; McCorvy, J. D.; Lein, P. J.; Kokel, D.; Ron, D.; Peters, J.; Zuo, Y.; Olson, D. E. A Non-Hallucinogenic Psychedelic Analogue with Therapeutic Potential. Nature, 2021, 589, 474–479.
• Dunlap, L. E.; Azinfar, A.; Ly, C.; Cameron, L. P.; Viswanathan, J.; Tombari, R. J.; Myers-Turnbull, D.; Taylor, J. C.; Grodzki, A. C.; Lein, P. J.; Kokel, D.; Olson, D. E. Identification of Psychoplastogenic N,N-Dimethylaminoisotryptamine (isoDMT) Analogs Through Structure-Activity Relationship Studies. J. Med. Chem., 2020, 63, 1142–1155.
• Cameron, L. P.; Benson, C. J.; DeFelice, B. C.; Fiehn, O.; Olson, D. E. Chronic, Intermittent Microdoses of the Psychedelic N,N‐Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) Produce Positive Effects on Mood and Anxiety in Rodents. ACS Chem. Neurosci., 2019, 10, 3261−3270.
• Ly, C.; Greb, A. C.; Cameron, L. P.; Wong, J.; Barragan, E.; Wilson, P.; Burbach, K. F.; Dunlap, L. E.; Soltanzadeh Zarandi, S.; Sood, A.; Duim, W. C.; Paddy, M. R.; Dennis, M.; McAllister, A. K.; Ori-McKenney, K. M.; Gray, J. A.; Olson, D. E. Psychedelics Promote Structural and Functional Neural Plasticity. Cell Rep. 2018, 23, 3170–3182.
• Cameron, L. P.; Benson, C. J.; Dunlap, L. E.; Olson, D. E. Effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on rat behaviors relevant to anxiety and depression. ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 1582–1590.

Membership and Service

• Associate Editor ACS Chemical Neuroscience
• Editorial Advisory Board of iScience
• Editorial Advisory Board of Psychedelic Medicine
• Editorial Advisory Board of ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science
• Guest Editor; Special Issue on Psychedelics; ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science
• American Chemical Society
• Society for Neuroscience
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• International Society for Serotonin Research
• International Society for Research on Psychedelics
• Cure Addiction Now (CAN) Research Team
• American Society for Neurochemistry