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Dr. Olson was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2000 for his integrated use of biochemical, genetic, and molecular biological methods to resolve how tissues are determined and differentiated in multicellular organisms. His research unveiled a compelling description of how myogenic and cardiogenic transcription factors control organogenesis of skeletal muscle and heart tissues in fruit flies and laboratory mice.
Dr. Olson's laboratory focuses on the gene regulatory proteins and signaling molecules that control cardiac muscle development and also play an important role in remodeling the adult heart during pathologic cardiac enlargement and heart failure. By deciphering the mechanisms that regulate cardiac development and gene expression in model organisms, Dr. Olson seeks insights into the molecular pathologies underlying congenital and acquired heart disease in humans.
Dr. Olson, who joined the Stowers Institute Scientific Advisory Board in 2000, received a BA degree in biology and chemistry from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Wake Forest University Medical School. He currently chairs the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, serves as director of the Hamon Center for Basic Research in Cancer, and holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Basic Cancer Research and the Annie and Willie Nelson Professorship in Stem Cell Research. | 