News

UR Center for RNA Biology Members and Alumni Attend RNA 2023 in Singapore

Friday, June 9, 2023

A large number of UR Center for RNA Biology members and alumni attended the 28th Annual RNA Society Meeting (‘RNA 2023’) held at the Suntec Convention Centre from May 30th-June 4th, 2023. In addition to those pictured, Douglas Turner, PhD, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biochemistry and Member Emeritus of the Center for RNA Biology, attended and received the 2023 The RNA Society/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Distinguished Research Mentor Award, which recognizes outstanding mentorship by RNA Society members and highlights the importance of fostering the academic and professional development of trainees in RNA research.

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2023 RNA Institute Symposium: UR Talks and Awards

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

The 2023 RNA Institute Symposium, a collaborative event hosted by The RNA Institute at the University at Albany (UAlbany) and the University of Rochester (UR) Center for RNA Biology, was held March 16-17, 2023, at UAlbany. This two-day event was co-organized by Lynne Maquat, PhD, Dave Matthews, MD, PhD, Eric Wagner, PhD from the UR Center for RNA Biology, and J. Andrew Berglund, PhD and Marlene Belfort, PhD from The RNA Institute at UAlbany.

The large-scale event provided a forum for faculty and students to present their research and network with colleagues, featuring speakers from companies with origins in UAlbany and UR research programs, including Codomax, SupreMEtric, Scriptr, and sxRNA.

The Symposium, hosting ~260 attendees, featured 8 trainee talks, 28 lightning talks, 122 posters from students and postdocs/research faculty, and several invited talks by faculty and industry representatives – including Douglas Anderson, PhD of the Aab CVRI and Scriptr Global and Lynne Maquat, PhD, Director of the Center for RNA Biology and Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics. Participants from the UR included 38 graduate students, postdocs, and faculty.

As a co-organizer of this event, Dr. Maquat also hosted the Award Ceremony with Thomas Begley, PhD (Associate Director, The RNA Institute at UAlbany). Details on the student talks and the awards given to UR participants are shown below. The overall Symposium schedule and highlights can be found on the event site: https://www.albany.edu/rna/rna-symposium.

UR Participant Photos

Talks

UR Student Talks (8 mins + 2 mins Q&A)
Lily Cisco Graduate Student, Lueck Lab, CMPP	Benefit of Verapamil on Myotonic Dystrophy Bi-Channelopathy
Xueyang He Graduate Student, Boutz Lab, BSCB	Modeling the Effects of Cancer-Associated Spliceosome Mutations and Identifying Driving Intronic Features using Deep-Learning Neural Networks
Madeline (Maddie) Jensen Graduate Student, Wagner Lab, BMB	Identification and Structural Basis of a Novel Licensing Factor of the Integrator Cleavage Module

 

UR Student and Postdoc Lightning Talks (2 mins + 1 slide)
Elizabeth Abshire, PhD Postdoc, Maquat Lab, DBB	AKT Constitutes a Signal-Promoted Alternative Exon-Junction Complex that Regulates Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay
Sara Ali Graduate Student, Mathews Lab, BSCB	Mutate2test: New Algorithm and Software for Mutational Design
Diego Arévalo Graduate Student, Miller Lab, CHEM	Expanding the Known Structure Space for RNA Binding: A Test of 2,5-diketopiperazine
Dakarai Esgdaille Graduate Student, Boutz / Mello Labs, BGG	Defining the Regulatory Role of Nuclear Paraspeckles in RNA Splicing in the Context of Pancreatic Tumors
Justin Galardi Graduate Student, Kielkopf Lab, BMB	HIV-1 Rev Regulates Host Transcription and RNA Processing Factor TatSF1 to Promote HIV-1 Infectivity
Omar Hedaya Graduate Student, Yao Lab, BMB	Secondary Structures that Regulate mRNA Translation Provide Insights for ASO-Mediated Modulation of Protein Expression
Wooree Ko Graduate Student, Lueck Lab, CMPP	Anticodon-Engineered Transfer RNA for the Treatment of Nonsense-Associated Cystic Fibrosis
Adrian Molina Vargas Graduate Student, O’Connell Lab, BGG	Development of New Strategies for the Design of Ultrasensitive Cas13a-Based RNA-Diagnostic Tools with Single-Nucleotide Mismatch Sensitivity

Awards

Only two total Trainee Speaker Awards were given out, one of which was presented to a UR participant:
Lily Cisco Graduate Student, Lueck Lab, CMPP	Benefit of Verapamil on Myotonic Dystrophy Bi-Channelopathy

 

UR Poster Awards (Recipients of cash awards)
Hironori (Hiro) Adachi, PhD Staff Scientist/Postdoc, Yu Lab, DBB	Targeted Pseudouridylation: An approach for Suppressing Nonsense Mutations in Disease Genes
Sara Ali Graduate Student, Mathews Lab, BSCB	Mutate2test: New Algorithm and Software for Mutational Design
Dakarai Esgdaille Graduate Student, Boutz / Mello Labs, BGG	Defining the Regulatory Role of Nuclear Paraspeckles in RNA Splicing in the Context of Pancreatic Tumors
Jordana Schmierer Graduate Student, Takimoto Lab, IMV	Host Adaptative Mutations in the pH1N1 PA CTD Affect Genome Replication
Elinore VanGraafeiland Graduate Student, Miller Lab, BMB	Targeting Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting in SARS-CoV-2 with a Resin-Bound Dynamic Combinatorial Library

 

UR RNA Society Awards (recipients of one-year RNA Society Memberships)
Elizabeth Abshire, PhD Postdoc, Maquat Lab, DBB	AKT Constitutes a Signal-Promoted Alternative Exon-Junction Complex that Regulates Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay
Wooree Ko Graduate Student, Lueck Lab, CMPP	Anticodon-Engineered Transfer RNA for the Treatment of Nonsense-Associated Cystic Fibrosis
Jessica Perciaccante Graduate Student, Anderson Lab, BGG	The CARDINAL lncRNA Represses TCF-SRF-Mediated Gene Transcription by Co-Occupying SRF-Bound Gene Promoters in the Heart

NYS Center for Excellence in RNA Research and Therapeutics (CERRT). This Symposium reflects an ongoing commitment between the University of Rochester Center for RNA Biology and The RNA Institute at the University at Albany-SUNY to train the next generation of RNA Scientists. This endeavor is occurring in real-time and alongside the NYS Biotech industry to develop an academic pipeline to fuel NYS efforts in harnessing RNA as a therapeutic tool and target.

RNA Biologist Lynne Maquat Awarded 2023 Gruber Genetics Prize

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Lynne E. Maquat, PhD, the founding director of the Center for RNA Biology at the University of Rochester, has been awarded the 2023 Gruber Genetics Prize for her discovery of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay or NMD in humans. The Gruber International Prize Program, administered by Yale University, honors scientists from around the world whose groundbreaking work leads to fundamental shifts in knowledge and benefits mankind.

Maquat has spent her career deciphering the many roles that RNA plays in sickness and in health, and is best known for elucidating the complexities of NMD in mammalian cells and human disease. One of the major surveillance systems in the body, NMD protects against mistakes in gene expression by targeting and eliminating deleterious mRNAs that could lead to the production of incomplete and potentially toxic proteins. Maquat’s lab also revealed that NMD helps our cells adjust to changes in development and in their environment, and more rapidly respond to certain stimuli.

“Lynne’s scientific prowess and steadfast commitment to her research is exemplary and has helped catapult the field of RNA biology to the forefront of medicine over the past decade,” said Mark B. Taubman, MD, CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center and dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. “This is an exciting time, as Lynne and other scientists are putting her mechanistic findings related to NMD to use to design treatments. She is incredibly deserving of this honor.”

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