Department Seminars
If you would like to speak with any of these people during their visit, or need additional information, please contact Stephanie Scoville.
7th Meeting of GWIS (Graduates Working in Science)
Invited Speaker
Lainie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD
Mark and Lois Taubman Distinguished Professor and Chair, Dept of Health Humanities and Bioethics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Director, Paul M Schyve MD Center for Bioethics, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY
TOPIC
“Health Humanities: The Other Basic Science at UR School of Medicine and Dentistry”
Jan 15, 2026 @ 3:00 p.m.
School of Medicine and Dentistry | Adolph Lower Aud. (1-7619)
Student Seminar Series: "Development of Tools and tRNA-based Therapeutics for Rescue of PTC-derived Disease and Elongation Efficiency of CFTR"
Jeff Gabell - Graduate Student
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a monogenic autosomal recessive disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene. Several classes of the disease exist with various susceptibility to therapeutic intervention. The Lueck Lab explores how tRNAs can be harnessed as a therapeutic tool to target nonsense readthrough or to manipulate elongation efficiency of translation. Class I CFTR mutations, which result from nonsense mutations, account for ~10% of CF cases and are associated with severe CF phenotypes. Previous work has demonstrated that Anti-Codon Edited (ACE-) tRNAs are a promising therapeutic for nonsense diseases. Here, we demonstrate an in vivo reporter mouse for premature termination codon (PTC) readthrough we call Stop-Go-Glow. This model allows for fluorescent and luminescent quantification of PTC readthrough that can be used to evaluate the efficacy, durability, and delivery efficiency of ACE-tRNA technologies in a disease-agnostic manner. Additionally, tRNA pools are a major determinant in translation elongation rates, yet they are highly variable between cell types and are often not considered in available algorithms that determine codon optimality. We have developed screening reporter(s) for identifying specific codon usage within a gene of interest to determine which specific tRNA isodecoders are limiting translation elongation. The goal is to explore the efficacy of natural and non-natural tRNA supplementation targeting elongation bottlenecks and to inform the creation of a ‘functionally optimized’ CFTR transcript by identifying specific codons susceptible to optimization. From these screens, we have determined a list of tRNAs and codons in the CFTR transcript that are promising targets, which we are currently evaluating through functional assays. Importantly, what we learn here can be adapted to other transcripts for generations of therapeutics.
Jan 20, 2026 @ 1:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper S-Wing Aud. (3-7619)