Eric N. Olson

Eric N. Olson is the founding Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and holds distinguished chairs in Stem Cell Research and Cardiac Birth Defects. His research focuses on muscle development, gene editing, and translational therapies for cardiovascular and muscular diseases. He pioneered CRISPR-based approaches to correct Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) mutations and founded biotech companies to advance clinical applications.

Olson is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received the Eugene Braunwald Mentorship Award and has trained numerous students/postdocs who now lead cardiovascular research globally. His lab explores mechanisms of muscle regeneration, transcriptional regulation, and CRISPR-based therapies, with a focus on translating discoveries to clinical settings.

Key projects include gene editing therapies for DMD, myocardial regeneration via reprogramming, and understanding the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway’s role in neonatal heart repair. His work bridges basic science and medicine, with contributions to understanding mitochondrial dysfunction, micropeptide biology, and cardiomyocyte metabolism.

Olson serves on advisory boards for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and leads the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine. His lab’s future directions include optimizing CRISPR delivery systems, studying nuclear envelope proteins in muscle integrity, and exploring metabolic pathways in cardiac development.