Recent News

On Monday, October 28, an open house event was held at the University of Michigan North Campus Research Complex to introduce the new Cystic Fibrosis Research Center at U-M (press release here), which was recently funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) via a $500K Program Development Award. Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical…

Author | Paul Avedisian It would seem that the Nobel Foundation has RNA firmly on its radar, or is that “R-N-A-dar?”  In 2023, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their groundbreaking work mitigating the inflammatory response to mRNA, paving the way for rapid development of…

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…

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…

BY PAUL AVEDISIAN and MICHELE SANTILLAN A team of U-M researchers has been awarded a $500,000 grant by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF). Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit, Ph.D., the PI, is a faculty member at the Center for RNA Biomedicine, and Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Internal Medicine – Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division. Lindsay…

John Prensner, M.D., Ph.D., has received a Clinical Investigator Award from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation for his proposal: “Therapeutic opportunities and mechanistic insights of protein-RNA dyssynchrony in medulloblastoma.” The award supports outstanding early-career physician-scientists whose disease-oriented research has the potential to directly impact patients. Prensner was recognized as a leading pediatric cancer researcher…

BY PAUL AVEDISIAN   The Single Molecule Analysis in Real-Time (SMART) Center, one of two shared-use core facilities of the Center for RNA Biomedicine at the University of Michigan, has been awarded a $1.6 million instrument grant from the National Institutes of Health for a LUMICKS C-TrapⓇ optical tweezers machine with super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, marking a…

Michigan Medicine’s Vivian Cheung and fellow RNA heavy hitters from science and medicine lay out the Human RNome Project roadmap at landmark Congressional Briefing BY PAUL AVEDISIAN   On May 8, 2024, Vivian Cheung, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, delivered the welcoming remarks at a Congressional Briefing, “The Urgent Need to Advance RNA Science,”…

Center RNA Therapeutics Director Michelle Hastings, and faculty members Rachel Niederer and Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit address the need for new treatment strategies, and the subsequent barriers that must be overcome for success, by working together as an interdisciplinary team with unique expertise in CFTR physiology, designing RNA therapeutics, identifying targetable regulatory sequences, and developing engineered delivery…

Enjoy this video which details KLIPP, a “split enzyme” system pioneered by Center for RNA Biomedicine co-director, Mats Ljungman, Ph.D. During the KLIPP process, two non-functional Cas9 enzymes fused to Fok1 enzymes are brought together by a pair of guide RNAs. These guide RNAs specifically target sequences near structural variant junctions unique to cancer cells….

The Center for RNA Biomedicine hosted Pfizer’s Greg DiGennaro this week, an expert in Chemical Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) and international pharmaceutical regulations, for an informative webinar. Greg discussed navigating regulatory hurdles and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in biomedical research and development. Below, you can find a YouTube video of his presentation, as well as…

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Apr 23, 2024 – We are thrilled to announce that Yan Zhang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan, has won a distinguished CAREER Award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers awards in support of…

The latest issue of RNA Translated, the University of Michigan Center for RNA Biomedicine annual magazine and brief report, has been published and is available in print and to view online now!   The 2024 issue focuses on our groundbreaking efforts to build a University of Michigan “M-RNA Therapeutics” initiative, led by Michelle Hastings, Ph.D.,…

University of Michigan Center for RNA Biomedicine Co-Director Dr. Mats Ljungman presented research on his KLIPP technique at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting at the San Diego Convention Center in California. Dr. Ljungman’s talk, “KLIPP: Precision targeting of cancer with CRISPR,” was given on Tuesday, April 9, as part of the…

What a thrill it was to welcome our keynote speakers, including the 2023 Nobel Prize laureate for Physiology and Medicine Dr. Drew Weissman, and registrants to the U-M Ann Arbor campus on Friday, March 8, as well as those who joined us LIVE via Zoom. University of Michigan President Santa J. Ono, Ph.D., welcomed speakers and…

We are thrilled to announce that Mats Ljungman, Ph.D., Co-Director of the Center for RNA Biomedicine at the University of Michigan, has just been awarded a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the purpose of continuing his groundbreaking work with precision-targeting KLIPP cancer therapy – the project’s highest funding by…

Center for RNA Biomedicine Co-Director Nils Walter, Ph.D. is excited about sharing some news about yet another fascinating role RNA plays in gene regulation – and it’s about time… literally.  In a new review article, “Regulation of bacterial gene expression by non-coding RNA: It is all about time!” published January 10, 2024 in the journal…