The University of Michigan Center for RNA
Biomedicine brings together RNA scientists …
… whose passion and research are
at the frontier of RNA discoveries.
Co-Director
Center for RNA Biomedicine
Mats Ljungman, Ph.D.Co-Director
Center for RNA Biomedicine
Nils Walter, Ph.D.Clinical Director
M-RNA Therapeutics
Peter Todd, M.D., Ph.D.Director
M-RNA Therapeutics
Michelle Hastings, Ph.D.
RNA Therapeutics
University of Michigan
Michigan Medicine

The University of Michigan Center for RNA Biomedicine brings together RNA scientists, whose passion and research are at the frontier of RNA discoveries.

Registration is now open for the 9th Annual RNA Symposium, March 6-8, 2025!

Visit the symposium page for complete details

About Us

Our vision is to build a synergic community and empower collaborations between RNA researchers to help streamline the discovery of novel, individualized disease targets; and establish a system of in-house RNA production that would enable U-M investigators to produce and screen therapeutics rapidly and cost-effectively.

What is RNA?

What is RNA’s role in the cell and in diseases?

Publications

We are pleased to announce the publication of our third annual magazine and report, RNA Translated. The 2024 issue focuses on our groundbreaking efforts to build a University of Michigan “M-RNA Therapeutics” initiative for “changing tomorrow’s world of medicine, today.” The second half of the magazine highlights the main activities of the center for the 2023 calendar year.

Core Facilities

President Ono Launches the 2024 Symposium

Annual Symposium

The Center for RNA Biomedicine symposia bring together national leaders of the scientific, medical and engineering communities working on recent advances of our understanding of RNA. It provides means of exchanging new ideas across disciplines, spurring new collaborations nationwide, while supporting a rapidly growing RNA community at the University of Michigan.

RNA Innovation Seminar Series

The center offers bi-weekly RNA Innovation Seminars that feature visiting professors, U of M faculty, and students. The seminars cover a broad array of topics about RNA research and its application. In addition to learning about the latest research in the field, it is an opportunity to meet colleagues, network, and foster collaborations.

Become a member

We are a hub for RNA research across a wide range of scientific and medical disciplines at the University of Michigan.

Media

Inaugural Symposium Video Highlights
Who We Are, What We Do and Why
Co-Director Nils Walter on RNA and Life on Earth
On Your Mark, Set… Grant Sprints!

Recent News

Amelia and Makenzie Kahn playing outdoors surrounded by trees and nature
News
U-M researchers develop a personalized RNA therapeutic used to treat twins with an ultra-rare form of Batten disease

September 25, 2024 ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In a remarkable display of bench to bedside science, a therapeutic developed by U-M’s Michelle Hastings, Ph.D., is now being used to treat twin girls with a rare form of juvenile Batten disease. Hastings, who is the Pfizer Upjohn Research Professor of Pharmacology, Director of RNA Therapeutics at…

News
2024-2025 Seminars

Up Next: Monday, October 7 | 4 p.m. — Joe Yesselman, Ph.D. | University of Nebraska-Lincoln Monday, October 7 | 4 p.m. In-Person: Kahn Auditorium, BSRBHybrid: Click here to join via Zoom. Talk Title: “High-throughput determination of RNA tertiary contact thermodynamics by quantitative DMS chemical mapping” Abstract:Structured RNAs often contain long-range tertiary contacts that are…

Five faculty members honored in 2024 class of Rogel Scholars
News
Five faculty members honored in 2024 class of Rogel Scholars

By Paul Avedisian We are thrilled to announce that five faculty members of the Center for RNA Biomedicine have been honored as Rogel Scholars by the Rogel Cancer Center at the University of Michigan. The Rogel Scholars awards program provides support for exceptional faculty dedicated to achieving impact through novel breakthroughs in cancer research – a select…