NemaLife and UC Davis Enter into a Research Partnership to Test the Therapeutic Potential of Several Novel Psychoplastogens Developed in David E. Olson’s Lab
NemaLife will evaluate the efficacy of these compounds using its high-throughput C. elegans-based in vivo screening platform. This high-throughput platform will enable the Olson Lab to quickly examine the vast psychoplastogen chemical space in the search for new neurotherapeutics.
“I am excited to work with the team at NemaLife Inc. because many of the conserved signaling pathways in C. elegans are relevant to the discovery of new neurotherapeutics. These organisms complement existing rodent models and offer an alternative approach for rapidly evaluating the in vivo potency and efficacy of my lab’s novel compounds. Our partnership will help us to better understand the complex chemical and pharmacological space occupied by psychoplastogens.” said Prof David E. Olson, associate professor at UC Davis and Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Delix Therapeutics, a Boston-based neuroscience company.”
“We are grateful to Prof. Olson and his UC Davis lab for recognizing the value in NemaLife’s AI-assisted microfluidic screening platform to explore the in vivo effects of their novel psychoplastogens. We are excited about the scientific discoveries, the lasting partnership, and the opportunity to contribute to their group’s revolutionary approach using non-hallucinogenic analogs of psychedelics to treat different brain diseases, like depression, anxiety disorders, and addiction.” said Siva Vanapalli, CEO of NemaLife Inc.
NemaLife is a techbio platform company developing AI and microfluidics-based solutions for various industries to reduce the costs and carbon footprint associated with screening. Its patented low-cost whole organism assays help de-risk and accelerate product development by providing actionable data that reduce the use of mammals in pre-clinical assays. NemaLife’s technology is built with scalability and versatility in mind, helping innovative companies and academic laboratories accelerate their R&D and scientific discoveries, with the aim of improving quality of human life on a healthy planet.
Prof David E. Olson, Ph.D., is a chemist and neuroscientist, trained at Stanford, MIT, and Harvard. His research group at the University of California, Davis discovered that psychoplastogens promote structural and functional neuroplasticity in the cortex. His lab synthesizes and studies this new class of substances using molecular neurobiology and behavioral neuropharmacology to better understand the mechanisms underlying their effects on the nervous system and to develop the next generation of neurotherapeutics.
