Eric Olson is the founding chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair and the Annie and Willie Nelson Professorship of Stem Cell Research. Dr. Olson and his trainees discovered many of the key transcription factors and mechanisms responsible for heart and muscle development and disease, including identifying and deeply characterizing microproteins that regulate heart function. Dr. Olson is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.