Inaugural RNA Symposium agenda

Featuring Nobel Laureates Craig Mello and Phillip Sharp
“Can RNA Answer It All? From the Origin of Life to a Future of Personalized Medicine”

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The symposium will bring together national leaders of the scientific, medical and engineering communities working on recent advances of our understanding of RNA. It will provide a means of exchanging new ideas across disciplines, spurring new collaborations across campus and nationwide while supporting a rapidly growing RNA community at the U-M. Further augmenting a recently formed Block of MCubes 2.0 focused on RNA, this symposium will herald the new Center for RNA Biomedicine at the U-M. We expect that 200-300 participants from across the country, including funding decision makers and potential donors interested in investing in an RNA center at Michigan, will engage with each other and the scientific community on campus on a range of topics involving RNA.

Symposium Schedule

  • Friday, March 25: University of Michigan, Biomedical Research Science Building
  • 8:30 AM – 9:00 AM On-Site Registration
  • 9:00 AM – 9:10 AM Welcome and Introduction, Mark Schlissel (President, University of Michigan), Eva Feldman (Director, Taubman Institute), Nils Walter
  • 9:10 AM – 10:00 AM Keynote 1: Phillip Sharp, MIT, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1993
  • 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM Keynote 2: Lynne Maquat, Director of the Center for RNA Biology at the University of Rochester, 2015 Canada Gairdner International Awardee
  • 10:45 AM – 11:00 AM Coffee Break
  • 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM Keynote 3: Arul Chinnaiyan, Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School
  • 11:45 AM – 12:30 AM Keynote 4: Anita Hopper, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University, RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Awardee
  • 12:30 PM – 1:40 PM Lunch break (on your own)
  • 1:40 PM – 2:30 PM Keynote 5: Craig Mello, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2006
  • 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM The Center for RNA Biomedicine panel discussion with all speakers
  • 3:15 PM – 3:30 PM Coffee Break
  • 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM RNA Data Blitzes: Fifteen 5-minute presentations from across the University of Michigan. See lineup of talks here
  • 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Open Cocktail Reception: Meet the Speakers

Our educational objective is to provide the latest information on how RNA molecules impact cellular function in health and disease. After this educational symposium, participants will be able to apply advanced knowledge of genetic testing and therapies to patient care for diseases involving RNA dysregulation.

This symposium is open to University of Michigan clinicians and research scientists, as well as other primary care practitioners and public health scholars interested in the most recent discoveries regarding the role of RNA in health and disease.

The University of Michigan Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The University of Michigan Medical School designates this live activity for a maximum of 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.