Olivier Civelli
Biography
Olivier Civelli, Ph.D., is Eric L. and Lila D. Nelson Professor of Neuropharmacology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of California, Irvine, where he also holds a professorship in the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology in the School of Biological Sciences. Civelli received his Ph.D. from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 1979. He served as Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at UC Irvine from 2012 to 2019 and was named Distinguished Professor at UC Irvine in 2018. He currently directs the online Master of Science in Pharmacology Program at UC Irvine.
Civelli's research focuses on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and the discovery of novel neurotransmitters and neuropeptides through reverse pharmacology. His laboratory cloned several dopamine receptor subtypes, including the D2, D4, D5 and D1 receptors, and identified the natural ligands for multiple orphan GPCRs. His work led to the discovery of orphanin FQ/nociceptin and its receptor, melanin-concentrating hormone receptors, neuropeptide S and its receptor, and other neuromodulatory systems. His research has contributed to understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders, pain, sleep regulation, and feeding behavior.
Civelli has trained numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who have gone on to faculty positions at institutions worldwide. He has published over 190 research papers and holds 30 patents. He serves on editorial boards for multiple journals and has been a grant reviewer for funding agencies in the United States and internationally. He is an elected Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and was recognized as an ISI Highly Cited Researcher in 2006. Civelli has a particular expertise in the field of pharmaceutical industry. He was vice president at F. Hoffmann La Roche in Basel, Swtizerland for 4 years. He founded two biotechnology companies and has served on scientific advisory boards for pharmaceutical companies.
Return to topEducation
- Diplome sc. nat, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland, 1973
- Ph.D., Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland, 1979
Distinctions
- ISI Highly Cited Researcher, 2006
- Member of the NIH College of CSR Reviewers, 2010
- Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2011
- Chinese Academy of Sciences President's International Fellowship Initiative for Visiting Scientists, 2015-2017
- Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
- Established Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), 1992, 2010
- Astellas USA Foundation Research Award, 2004
- Guest Professorship, Nantong University, China, 2011
- Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine, 2018
Areas of Expertise
- Neuropharmacology
- Dopamine Receptor Cloning
- Opioid Peptide Biosynthesis
- Neuropeptide Gene Expression
- Orphan GPCR Deorphanization
- Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Signaling
- Neuropeptide S Receptor Pharmacology
Recent Publications
- Alachkar A., Civelli O., “From Skin to Brain: Antagonism and Parallelism in the MCH and MSH Systems” (opens in new tab), Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1558, 2026.
- Dabbous T., DoanVo V., Ha A., Yoshimura R.F., Abbott G.W., Alachkar A., Civelli O., “Plants vs. GPCRs: A workflow for ligand discovery from an extract library illustrated by dopamine receptors” (opens in new tab), Biochemical Pharmacology, vol. 246, 2026.
- Kim Y.W., Behara P.K., Alhassen L., Wong C., Civelli O., Hoshi N., “Therapeutic potential of small molecules that block receptor-induced Kv7/M-current suppression in neuroprotection, seizures, and pain” (opens in new tab), British Journal of Pharmacology, 2026.
- Alexander S.P.H., Davenport A.P., Kelly E., Gibb A.J., Mathie A.A., Peach C.J., Veale E.L., Armstrong J.F., Faccenda E., Harding S.D., Southan C., Davies J.A., Abbracchio M.P., Abraham G.R., Agoulnik A., Alexander W., Al-hosaini K., Back M., Baker J.G., Barnes N.M., et al., “The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2025/26: G protein-coupled receptors” (opens in new tab), British Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 182, pp. S24-S151, 2025.
- Alachkar A, Phan A, Dabbous T, Alhassen S, Alhassen W, Reynolds B, Rubinstein M, Ferré S, Civelli O, “Humanized dopamine D4.7 receptor male mice display risk-taking behavior and deficits of social recognition and working memory in light/dark-dependent manner” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neuroscience Research, vol. 102, no. 2, pp. e25299, 2024.
- Alhassen S, Hogenkamp D, Nguyen HA, Al Masri S, Abbott GW, Civelli O, Alachkar A, “Ophthalmate is a new regulator of motor functions via CaSR: Implications for movement disorders” (opens in new tab), Brain, vol. 147, pp. 3379-3394, 2024.
- Vaudry H, Schoofs L, Civelli O, Kojima M, “Editorial: Neuropeptide GPCRs in neuroendocrinology, Volume II” (opens in new tab), Front Endocrinol (Lausanne), vol. 14, pp. 1219530, 2023.
- Chen KJ, Yoshimura R, Edmundo CA, Truong TM, Civelli O, Alachkar A, Abbott GW, “Behavioral and neuro-functional consequences of eliminating the KCNQ3 GABA binding site in mice” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, vol. 16, pp. 1192628, 2023.
- Alhassen L, Alhassen W, Wong C, Sun Y, Xia Z, Civelli O, Hoshi N, “Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEAS) Is an Endogenous Kv7 Channel Modulator That Reduces Kv7/M-Current Suppression and Inflammatory Pain” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 43, no. 43, pp. 7073-7083, 2023.
- Alexander S.P.H., Christopoulos A., Davenport A.P., Kelly E., Mathie A.A., Peters J.A., Veale E.L., Armstrong J.F., Faccenda E., Harding S.D., Davies J.A., Abbracchio M.P., Abraham G., Agoulnik A., Alexander W., Al-hosaini K., Back M., Baker J.G., Barnes N.M., Bathgate R., et al., “The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2023/24: G protein-coupled receptors” (opens in new tab), British Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 180, pp. S23-S144, 2023.
- Alhassen W, Chen S, Vawter M, Robbins BK, Nguyen H, Myint TN, Saito Y, Schulmann A, Nauli SM, Civelli O, Baldi P, Alachkar A, “Patterns of cilia gene dysregulations in major psychiatric disorders” (opens in new tab), Progress in Neuro Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, vol. 109, 2021.
- Alhassen L, Nuseir K, Ha A, Phan W, Marmouzi I, Shah S, Civelli O, “The Extract of Corydalis yanhusuo Prevents MorphineTolerance and Dependence” (opens in new tab), Pharmaceuticals, vol. 14, pp. 1034, 2021.
- Monfared RV, Alhassen W, Truong TM, Gonzales MAM, Vachirakorntong V, Chen S, Baldi P, Civelli O, Alachkar A, “Transcriptome Profiling of Dysregulated GPCRs Reveals Overlapping Patterns across Psychiatric Disorders and Age-Disease Interactions” (opens in new tab), Cells, vol. 10, no. 11, pp. 2967, 2021.
- Alhassen L, Dabbous T, Ha A, Dang LHL, Civelli O, “The Analgesic Properties of Corydalis yanhusuo” (opens in new tab), Molecules, vol. 26, no. 24, pp. 7498, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Van Tol, H.H.M., Bunzow, J.R., Guan, H.C., Sunahara, R.K., Seeman, P., Niznik, H.B., Civelli, O., “Cloning of the gene for a human dopamine D₄ receptor with high affinity for the antipsychotic clozapine” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 350, pp. 610-614, 1991.
- Reinscheid, R.K., Nothacker, H.P., Bourson, A., Ardati, A., Henningsen, R. A., Bunzow, J.R., Grandy, D.K., Langen, H., Monsma, F.J., Civelli, O., “Orphanin FQ: A neuropeptide that activates an opioid-like G protein-coupled receptor”, Science, vol. 270, pp. 792-794, 1995.
- Zhou, Q.Y., Li, C., Olah, M.E., Johnson, R.A., Stiles, G.L., Civelli, O., “Molecular cloning and characterization of an adenosine receptor: The A₃ adenosine receptor” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 89, pp. 7432-7436, 1992.
- Civelli, O, Bunzow, J.R., Grandy, D.K., “Molecular diversity of the dopamine receptors” (opens in new tab), Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, vol. 32, pp. 281-307, 1993.
- Zhou, Q.Y., Grandy, D.K., Thambi, L., Kushner, J., Van Tol, H.H.M., Cone, R., Pribnow, D., Salon, J., Bunzow, J.R., Civelli, O., “Cloning and expression of human and rat D₁ dopamine receptors” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 347, pp. 76-80, 1990.
- Grandy, D.K., Marchionni, M.A., Makam, H., Stofko, R., Alfono, M., Frothingham, L., Fischer, J., Burke-Howie, K., Bunzow, J.R., Server, A.C., Civelli, O., “Cloning of the cDNA and gene for a human D₂ dopamine receptor” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 86, pp. 9762-9766, 1989.
- Saito, Y., Nothacker, H.P., Wang, Z., Lin, S.H.S., Leslie, F., Civelli, O., “Molecular characterization of the melanin-concentrating-hormone receptor” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 400, pp. 265-269, 1999.
- Xu, Y.L., Reinscheid, R.K., Huitron-Resendiz, S., Clark, S.D., Wang, Z., Lin, S.H., Brucher, F.A., Zeng, J., Ly, N.K., Henriksen, S.J., de Lecea, L., Civelli, O., “Neuropeptide S: a neuropeptide promoting arousal and anxiolytic-like effects” (opens in new tab), Neuron, vol. 43, pp. 487-497, 2004.
- Albert, P., Zhou, Q.Y., Van Tol, H.H., Bunzow, J.R., Civelli, O., “Cloning, functional expression, and mRNA tissue distribution of the rat 5-hydroxytryptamine₁A receptor gene”, Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 265, pp. 5825-5832, 1990.
- Bunzow, J.R., Van Tol, H.H., Grandy, D.K., Albert, P., Salon, J., Christie, M., Machida, C., Neve, K.A. and Civelli, O., “Cloning and expression of a rat D2 dopamine receptor cDNA. ”, Nature, Springer, vol. 336, pp. 783-787, 1988.
Contact Information
Email: ocivelli@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-2522, 4291
Address: 369/353 Med Surge II
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Last updated on 10/28/2026.