Eric N. Olson

The pioneering work of Eric N. Olson, Ph.D., regarded as a major step in finding genetic targets for the treatment of congenital heart defects and adult heart disease, has illuminated the fundamental principles of organ formation and has demonstrated that many of the genes that control heart formation are called into play in the adult heart under pathological stress. Most recently, Dr. Olson has turned his attention to microRNAs, which are recognized to activate cell functions. He is a recipient of the Institut de France Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation Grand Prize and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Olson serves as the Director of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, and as a consultant to miRagen Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that he co-founded. He received his doctorate in biochemistry from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University.