Reid Olsen
Director - Strategic Drug Discovery Initiatives Recursion
Reid Olsen is Director of Strategic Drug Discovery Initiatives at Recursion, where he leads and supports GPCR-focused discovery programs from target validation through lead optimization and candidate selection. A molecular pharmacologist by training, Reid is widely recognized as the co-inventor of TRUPATH, a broadly adopted GPCR signaling platform that has enabled researchers to study receptor signaling across multiple G protein families. Prior to joining Recursion, he led GPCR pharmacology and cellular pharmacology teams at Exscientia, helping integrate advanced pharmacology with AI-driven drug discovery approaches. Reid earned his PhD in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the laboratory of Bryan Roth and has contributed extensively to the development of innovative tools for GPCR biology, chemogenetics, and translational drug discovery.
Seminars
- Where has AI demonstrably delivered measurable impact on GPCR hit identification, optimization and candidate selection?
- What benchmarks and validation frameworks do the field need to credibly assess AI platform performance against traditional methods?
- As AI capabilities expand, where does biological expertise and experimental validation remain non negotiable in the decision-making process?
- Investigating how incomplete biological understanding can lead to incorrect conclusions about GPCR target engagement and therapeutic activity
- Applying modern pharmacology tools and experimental approaches to distinguish genuine biology from misleading assay outputs
- Sharing case studies that demonstrate the importance of validating mechanism, target engagement and translational relevance before advancing programs
