Kurt Rasmussen

Kurt Rasmussen, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer at Delix Therapeutics, a neuroscience company developing novel disease-modifying therapeutics for psychiatric and neurological conditions. Dr. Rasmussen joined Delix from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where he led NIDA's (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Division of Therapeutics & Medical Consequences since 2018. In this role, he directed the Medications Development Program, and played an integral role in evaluating the safety and efficacy of pharmacotherapies, behavioral therapies, and devices to treat substance use disorders. Prior to the NIH, Dr. Rasmussen served as a Senior Research Scientist and Head in Neuroscience Research at Eli Lilly & Co. With over 25 years at Lilly, Dr. Rasmussen led multiple R&D teams and projects, resulting in multiple neuropsychiatric therapeutics. His laboratory work contributed to understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the clinical efficacy of Prozac, Zyprexa, Strattera, and Symbyax. A Fellow in the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Dr. Rasmussen has amassed over 100 publications and patents. He has also contributed to understanding the mechanism of action of hallucinogens through years of research, including one of the first publications to attribute the effects of psychedelics to agonist activity at the 5HT2a receptor.