David E. Olson

Our lab studies a class of compounds that we call psychoplastogens, or small molecules capable of promoting neural plasticity.  Such compounds have enormous potential for treating a wide variety of neuropsychiatric diseases including depression, anxiety disorders, and addiction.  We use a combination of synthetic chemistry, molecular neurobiology, and behavioral neuropharmacology to 1) understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying the effects of psychoplastogens on the nervous system, and 2) develop next generation neurotherapeutics.

Education, Awards and Professional Highlights

• Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences (MINS) Rising Star Award (2023)
• UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow (2023)
• Delix Therapeutics named one of the 10 start-ups to watch by C&E News (2022)
• Delix Therapeutics named one of the top academic spinouts by Nature Biotechnology (2022)
• Sacramento Business Journal's 40 Under 40 (2022)
• Research in Cell voted #2 biomedical discovery of 2021 by STAT Madness (2022)
• Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award (2021)
• UC Davis Chancellor’s Innovation Awards – Innovator of the Year (2021)
• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar (2021)
• Listed as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Psychedelics by Psychedelic Invest (2021)
• UC Davis Graduate Studies Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentoring Award (2021)
• Dr. Mohsen Najafi Research Award in Medicinal Chemistry (2021)
• Life Young Investigator Award (2021)
• Jordi Folch-Pi Award from the American Society for Neurochemistry (2020)
• Phi Beta Kappa Northern California Association Excellence in Teaching Award (2019)
• Hellman Fellow (2018)
• University Honors Program Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship (2018)
• Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring at Early to Mid-Career Level (2016)
• Phi Beta Kappa (2006)
• Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship (2005)
• Appointed to UC Davis faculty (2015)
• Postdoctoral Associate, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (2011 - 2015)
• Ph.D. Stanford University (2011)
• B.S. Union College (2006)

Representative Publications

• 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.
• Zhang, G.; Favela, D.; Chow, W.; Iyer, R. N.; Pell, A. J.; Olson, D. E. Synthesis of Tertiary Amines Through Extrusive Alkylation of Carbamates. Org. Lett., 2022, 24, 6208–6212
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.