Center for RNA Biomedicine faculty present progress on U-M Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Basic Research Center to visiting CF Foundation reps
Michele Santillan, U-M Biomedical Engineering (BME), reports on a recent campus visit by representatives from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) in her article Building Community Around Cystic Fibrosis Research at U-M.
The CFF contingent dropped in to check on the progress being made toward establishing a CF Basic Research Center at the University of Michigan.
Center for RNA Biomedicine (CRB) affiliate faculty Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Internal Medicine — Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, is the principal investigator on a $500K Program Development Award granted in August 2024 from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) to support the evolution of a CF research center of excellence.
The representatives met with five awardees whose pilot experiments were selected for seed funding by the grant, including two CRB affiliate faculty members. Executive Committee member Yan Zhang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biological Chemistry, presented her progress on CRISPR gene-editing technologies for CF, and affiliate Guizhi (Julian) Zhu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, outlined advances in developing novel pulmonary circular RNA (circRNA) for CF.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Affiliate Faculty Member, Center for RNA Biomedicine
Professor of Pharmacology
Pfizer Upjohn Research Professor of Pharmacology
Director, RNA Therapeutics, Center for RNA Biomedicine
Prior to the development award, Piotrowski-Daspit teamed up with CRB RNA Therapeutics Director Michelle Hastings, Ph.D., Pfizer Upjohn Research Professor of Pharmacology, and CRB affiliate Rachel Niederer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry, on a $3 million Collaborative Research Grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Hastings heads the interdisciplinary initiative as lead Principal Investigator. The collaborative grant project aims to develop RNA therapeutics to combat cystic fibrosis and rare CF-associated genetic variants.
Assistant Professor, Biological Chemistry
Faculty Scholar, Center for RNA Biomedicine
In October 2024, Piotrowski-Daspit hosted an Open House to present a two-year plan for laying the groundwork for housing a CF Basic Research Center at Michigan. The event drew over 30 faculty members with an interest in or whose current work involves CF research.
BME is a joint department with the College of Engineering and Michigan Medical School. In her article, Santillan points out the groundswell of interdisciplinary collaboration the CF grant has fostered across campus, and how Michigan is uniquely positioned to lead a project uniting a broad spectrum of research specialities.
Read the full story, Building Community Around Cystic Fibrosis Research at U-M by Michele Santillan, on the University of Michigan Department of Biomedical Engineering website.
