Sarah Solar always wanted to help people. As a student at UC Davis, they majored in global disease biology, diving into the intricacies of disease spread and prevention, and its impacts on the health of human society and the environment at large. It was one health approach, an understanding that optimal outcomes are predicated on recognizing the interconnectedness of all things — people, animals and plants.    

“That was thrilling for me,” Solar said. “And that was, I think, what rooted me in the health field broadly.” 

What is the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics? 

Today, Solar is the program coordinator for the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, or IPN. The institute’s mission: to advance understanding of the neurobiology of psychedelics and translate that knowledge into safe and effective therapeutics for a wide range of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Funded by the College of Letters and Science, the School of Medicine, the Office of Research and the Provost’s Office, the IPN currently boasts 85 faculty affiliates whose expertise spans nearly all the sciences and health disciplines at the university.  

Solar is the institute’s nexus point. They liaison between campuses, establish connections between faculty affiliates and the institute, track funding, and coordinate and manage communications, among a host of other tasks. Their fingers are on the institute’s pulse, ensuring its operational functionality.  

“I’ve got the intranet set up to make sure there’s a one-stop hub for everyone, for all affiliates, to come and see what’s going on at the IPN,” Solar said. “And I’ve got a system going to collect data from affiliates, including tracking their publications and popular press articles.”

Advancing psychedelic science and drug discovery 

With almost two years under their belt in the position, Solar is working to further bolster the IPN’s reputation as an authority in the psychedelic and neurotherapeutic spaces. The latter includes staying updated on the field at large and disseminating that information through the IPN’s channels, including its newsletters and social media accounts. 

“People are coming to us not necessarily as a news source, but as a source of information to better the field and that feels really inspiring to me,” Solar said. 

For Solar, the work is a direct extension of their desire to better the health of society. Psychedelics, and related neurotherapeutics inspired by the molecular design of psychedelics, spur cortical neuron growth, improving and strengthening connections between these cells. A hallmark of many neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases is the withering of these connections — a process the IPN ultimately seeks to reverse.      

“It really does feel like we’re on the precipice of something really big,” Solar said. “The IPN works heavily in drug discovery and development and to watch that process happen in real-time is really exciting and could change the field of medicine entirely.” 

Solar referenced the IPN’s involvement in rapidly developing DLX-001, also known as zalsupindole, a non-hallucinogenic neuroplastogen for major depressive disorder. The drug has gone through both Phase 1a safety trials and Phase 1b trials in patients.  

“The hope is that the drug will soon be in Phase 2 clinical trials,” Solar said. “It’s been incredibly fast and I hope things continue at that rate of speed, both because it’s really neat and because people could really use these drugs.” 

Building a collaborative research community 

Solar is also working to establish a culture of collaboration at the IPN. Those efforts will be furthered this summer with the institute’s first retreat, an opportunity for faculty affiliates to learn about their colleagues’ research projects.   

“We’ve done staff talks here and there, but this is a whole other ball game,” Solar said. “A portion of our 85 affiliates, all working across different disciplines, will come together to share their research goals and brainstorm ideas for future research collaborations.”

“It’s an incredible way to grow the institute and form bonds,” they added.   

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