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The U-M Center for RNA Biomedicine is looking for U-M Graduate Students and Postdocs to join its RNA Student & Postdoc Council for the 2020–21 academic year.

The objectives of this council are to work collaboratively across disciplines, build a scientific community, and generate ideas and activities that advance RNA research and education across the University of Michigan.

This is a great opportunity to develop and implement ideas that enhance your curriculum and experience at U-M. The Council is also an excellent platform to further engage with peers, mentors, and faculty from the RNA research community.

In 2019–20, the Student & Postdoc Council launched a monthly RNA journal club to discuss articles from seminar speakers. It created a directory of expertise, The RNA Skill Share, and planned a Scholar Exchange program, as well as outreach and networking events that were postponed due to COVID-19. The Council was awarded a grant from The RNA Society to support its activities.

Expectations of RNA Council members
Commitment of one academic year, renewable
2hrs service/month (1hr meeting and 1hr follow-up action based on meeting outcomes)

Email Martina Jerant, Center for RNA Biomedicine manager, by Friday, August 14^th, to express interest.

RNA is a leading-edge field of biomedical research that is quickly expanding at many public research and academic institutions in the US and Canada. The complexity of this research requires collaborations between scientists across disciplines and specialties, establishing communities of RNA scientists within each of these institutions.

When the COVID pandemic required to postpone all physical gatherings, seminars and symposia were cancelled, leaving a void and a strong need to keep discussing and sharing science across the RNA community. At the initiative of the University of Michigan Center for RNA Biomedicine, several centers came together and decided to offer virtual seminars, creating the RNA Collaborative Seminar Series with the goal to cross promote RNA research, and strengthen and connect the RNA scientific community. The Seminar Series offers an opportunity for scientists to present their current research and take questions and comments from their peers.

[Read more…] about Scientists Come Together to Discuss RNA Science: The RNA Collaborative Seminar Series

by Elisabeth Paymal

One of the hallmarks of ovarian cancer is genomic instability resulting in gain and loss of DNA throughout the entire genome, including many microRNAs (miRNA). Dr. DiFeo, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pathology and of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Michigan Medicine, and her team, research which miRNAs are involved in the early stages of ovarian cancer. “A lot of research has looked at microRNAs in late stages of cancer, and we’re interested in what happens at the early stages of ovarian cancer,” explains DiFeo.

Their results, published in Nature Communications, show hope that microRNAs could be used as biomarkers for tumor development. If a miRNA regulates several significant pathways involved in ovarian cancer, it could make a great biomarker to detect early stages of ovarian cancers as well as a therapeutic target to treat recurrent disease. Currently, because the symptoms are vague, 85% of ovarian cancers are detected at stage 3 and 4 while early detection is essential to cure success.

 This photograph shows the nuclei of normal fallopian tube cell (left) and miR-181a expressing fallopian tube cell (right) highlighting that the expression of miR-181a converts the normal circular nuclei to a abnormal non-circular nuclei that is prone to nuclear rupture and hallmark of cancer.

[Read more…] about miR-181a, a microRNA that regulates ovarian cancer cells

Keane is U-M’s 15th scientist to receive this very prestigious award since its inauguration in 1985, and the first one since 2013.

“For my lab what this award means is that we can take real chances and pursue these challenging projects that are really difficult in terms of methodology development and other technical challenges that we have to overcome,” Keane said. Read more

The Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences provides funding to young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health. The program makes grants to selected academic institutions to support the independent research of outstanding individuals who are in their first few years of their appointment at the assistant professor level.

Congratulations Dr. Keane!

May 27

May 29

Launched in April 2020, the goal of the RNA Collaborative seminar series is to cross-promote RNA research to strengthen and connect the RNA scientific community. Proposed by the University of Michigan (U-M) Center for RNA Biomedicine, this initiative received great enthusiasm from seven RNA research centers. The group was quickly joined by two more centers and endorsed by The RNA Society: “Your multi-institutional seminar series is a fantastic idea, and I am not surprised that it has generated interest and excitement,” wrote Kristian Baker, CEO of The RNA Society.

[Read more…] about U-M Center for RNA Biomedicine hosts the RNA Collaborative Seminar Series, May 6, 2020

The election of professors Janet L. Smith and Arul Chinnaiyan, both members of the Center for RNA Biomedicine Strategic Advisory Board, to the National Academy of Sciences is an outstanding validation of the excellence of the RNA research at the University of Michigan. Members are elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. Congrats Janet and Arul!

[Read more…] about Two RNA Biomedicine experts are elected to the National Academy of Sciences

“Martina Jerant is brimming with energy, big ideas and “outside the box” thinking, which has been instrumental in achieving the Center for RNA Biomedicine’s mission to build bridges across our large campus through a broad range of activities that Martina handles essentially on her own, with little input from us, and all extraordinarily competently,” wrote the U-M Center for RNA Biomedicine (CRB) co-directors, Mats Ljungman and Nils Walter, in their nomination letter for the “U-M Staff Impact Award.”

For the last three-and-a-half years as the Manager of the CRB, initially jointly as a Lab Manager for the Walter group (LSA Chemistry), Jerant has brought creativity, positive attitude and superb interpersonal skills to everything she does. And she does a lot, initiating numerous network collaborations and contributing to the RNA scientific community, as well as engaging her colleagues in M-Healthy and stress management activities among others.

[Read more…] about Martina Jerant, Manager of the Center for RNA Biomedicine, receives the University of Michigan Staff Impact Award from among 75 nominees

The grassroots Center for RNA Biomedicine at the University of Michigan involves among its opt-in membership RNA scientists from across the Ann Arbor campus, encompassing all seven Schools and Colleges that are engaged in the Biosciences. The Center’s leadership reflects this diversity of viewpoints and serves to facilitate scientific collaboration.

[Read more…] about The U-M Center for RNA Biomedicine Executive Committee thanks Aaron Frank for his contributions and welcomes Markos Koutmos

By Elisabeth Paymal, Center for RNA Biomedicine

As soon as COVID-19 information was released, RNA biologist and child neurologist Dr. Vivian Cheung looked at what was known about this new RNA virus.

“What I saw was amazingly surprising: the RNA of the virus encodes a familiar protein, the one that I’ve studied for years in a very rare neurodegenerative disease. Here it was, in the RNA of the COVID-19 virus!”

Left: RNA in the clover loop form. Drawing by Colleen McGarry

[Read more…] about From a rare neurologic disease to a potential antiviral medication against corona virus