Eric N. Olson
Eric Newell Olson (born September 27, 1955 ) is an American biochemist and molecular biologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas .
Life
Olson grew up in North Carolina . He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem , North Carolina in 1977 and a PhD in biochemistry from Wake Forest University's Bowman Gray School of Medicine in 1981 . His dissertation was entitled Biochemical alterations in skeletal muscle membranes during the development of diabetes . As a postdoctoral fellow , he worked with Luis Glaser at the Washington University School of Medicine . Olson then received a professorship in biochemistry and molecular biology (1984 Assistant Professor , 1989 Associate Professor , 1991 Full Professor) at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Since 1995 he has held professorships at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas , initially for molecular biology, since 1999 also for cardiovascular medicine , since 2005 also for stem cell biology , since 2006 also for congenital heart defects .
Act
At the interface between basic research and clinical medicine, Olson was able to make important contributions to the understanding of development ( ontogenesis ) and functional disorders of the cardiovascular system .
Using biochemical , genetic and molecular biological methods, Olson was able to contribute to the elucidation of how the determination and differentiation of tissues is organized in multicellular organisms . To this end, he provided a very conclusive description of how transcription factors control the organogenesis of skeletal and heart muscle in fruit flies and laboratory mice . The transcription factors he discovered include MEF-2 (differentiation of all muscle cells), myocardium (vascular muscles) and Hand1 and Hand2 (formation of the heart chambers). Olson was able to show that altered calcium signals - mediated by calcineurin and histone deacetylases - lead to hypertrophy of the heart and ultimately to heart failure . Olson discovered a group of exercise-induced microRNAs that regulate myocyte growth, fibrosis, and angiogenesis in the damaged heart. He discovered that within the introns of the gene for the myosin heavy chain, there are microRNAs that control the contractility of the heart.
Awards (selection)
- 1998 member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1999 Pasarow Award
- 2000 member of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2001 member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2012 Passano Award
- 2013 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology
- 2019 Edwin G. Conklin Medal
Web links
- Eric Olson, PhD and Olson Laboratory at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (utsouthwestern.edu); Retrieved February 10, 2012
- Eric N. Olson, PhD at the Department of Molecular Biology of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (utsouthwestern.edu); Retrieved February 11, 2012
Individual evidence
- ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present (PDF, 95 kB) of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org); Retrieved February 11, 2012
- ↑ 2012 Passano Laureate at passanofoundation.org; Retrieved February 10, 2012
- ^ March of Dimes Awards $ 250,000 Prize to Scientist Who Identified Genes Responsible for Heart Diseases at March of Dimes (marchofdimes.com); Retrieved March 9, 2013
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Olson, Eric N. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Olson, Eric Newell (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American biochemist and molecular biologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 27, 1955 |