Russell Dahl

Russell Dahl (born 1974) is an American organic chemist, academic and biotechnology entrepreneur. Dahl is mainly known for his work in pharmaceutical research. He is the founder of biopharmaceutical startup Neurodon.

Life and career
Dahl was raised in San Jose, California. He completed his undergraduate studies at Santa Clara University, graduating in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and combined science. In 2002, he obtained his master's degree in chemistry from the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Dahl earned his PhD in chemistry in 2004 from UCSD. During his doctoral studies, Dahl had a fellowship at DuPont Pharmaceuticals where he and his team developed some of the first poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors for the treatment of cancers. His thesis research at UCSD culminated in the development of new reaction methodology for the synthesis of biologically relevant oligosaccharides.

From 2006 to 2012, he was the Director of Medicinal Chemistry Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. Dahl has held faculty positions at University of Southern California, UC San Diego School of Medicine, Palomar College, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of New England and Purdue University.

His main area of work is pharmaceutical research and drug discovery. Most of his research is focused on the discovery and development of small molecules that inhibit ER stress-induced cell death and dysfunction, which plays a role in multiple diseases, including diabetes and neurodegenerative conditions. Dahl invented and patented small molecule activators of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase, or SERCA, a protein whose major function is to maintain calcium homeostasis in the cell. One compound Dahl created, CDN1163, is utilized by researchers as a tool molecule to probe the effects of SERCA in various disease models. Dahl has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles.

During 2003 and 2006, Dahl discovered a series of alpha-ketoamides as selective inhibitors of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase that became drug candidates for inflammatory diseases.

In 2015, Dahl founded Neurodon, a biopharmaceutical startup, with a focus on discovery of neuroprotective drugs for treatment of conditions such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).