Seminar by James M. Olson, PhD, MD

This talk will highlight Dr. Olson’s discovery strategy and early successes in the development of novel drugs for a variety of applications (starting with cancer, but potentially much wider). 

Dr. Olson’s scientific and medical career has been devoted primarily to discovering and advancing new therapies for children with brain cancer. His lab completed pre-clinical mouse studies that led to 6 national clinical trials, of which he lead a Phase III trial in over 150 institutions. He (and his team) generated the most widely used mouse model of medulloblastoma for translational research studies and established over 30 patient-derived mouse models. They invented Tumor Paint, a molecule to guide surgeons. The clinical candidate, BLZ-100, is now in human clinical trials. As a pediatric oncologist, he cares for children with brain tumors, leads a 16 person brain tumor research laboratory, and leads the Optide Program for peptide drug discovery at the Hutchinson Center.