Professor David E. Olson, of the University of California, Davis, will lead the journal starting on July 1, 2026.
The Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS Publications) is pleased to announce that Professor David E. Olson of the University of California, Davis, USA, has been appointed as Editor-in-Chief of ACS Chemical Neuroscience.
ACS Chemical Neuroscience is a transdisciplinary neuroscience journal with a molecular perspective that publishes high-quality research articles and reviews that showcase how chemical and molecular tools/techniques can advance our understanding of the nervous system.
The journal’s scope is broad and includes mechanistic neuropharmacology, central/peripheral nervous system drug discovery and medicinal chemistry, molecular/cellular neuroscience, systems neuroscience, chemical biology, and biological chemistry.
Professor Olson officially assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief on July 1, 2026, succeeding Professor Jacob Hooker, who led the journal from 2021-2025. Professor Michael Kassiou served as Interim Editor over the past year.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Professor David Olson as Editor-in-Chief of ACS Chemical Neuroscience,” said ACS Publications Senior Vice President and Chief Publishing Officer Sarah Tegen, Ph.D. “At a time of tremendous momentum in neuroscience, neurotherapeutics, and molecular approaches to brain health, his leadership will help strengthen the journal’s position as an essential forum for researchers using chemistry to better understand the nervous system and advance new possibilities for treating neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.”
Professor Olson is the founding Director of the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics at the University of California, Davis, where he is also a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. He is also a co-founder of Delix Therapeutics, where he currently serves as the Chief Innovation Officer and Head of the Scientific Advisory Board.
“Neuroscience is a field that is deeply rooted in chemistry,” said Professor Olson. “I’m honored to serve as the next Editor-in-Chief of ACS Chemical Neuroscience, and I’m extremely excited to work with an exceptional team of editors to highlight the critical role that molecular science plays in our understanding of how the nervous system works and how we might improve mental health.”
Professor Olson earned his B.S. degree from Union College and his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University. He performed postdoctoral research at the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
His research uses chemical and molecular tools to understand the fundamental mechanisms by which small molecules impact neuroplasticity and control behavior, with a special emphasis on using this information to develop new medicines for treating central nervous system diseases.
His academic lab discovered that psychedelics from several chemical classes promote structural and functional neuroplasticity in the cortex, they coined the term “psychoplastogen” to describe small molecules that produce rapid and long-lasting therapeutic effects after a single dose, and they engineered the first non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens.
If you are a reporter who would like to write about this announcement, please reach out to the ACS Newsroom: newsroom@acs.org.
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