Stephen Parker co-lead author of new paper linking gene network and pancreatic beta cell defects to type 2 diabetes

Stephen Parker co-lead author of new paper linking gene network and pancreatic beta cell defects to type 2 diabetes

Center for RNA Biomedicine Faculty and Executive Committee Member Stephen C.J. Parker, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics, Human Genetics, and Biostatistics, just released new findings from a recent study on type 2 diabetes regulatory networks co-led by teams from the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University. Type 2 diabetes results from a dysfunction of…

Giving Tuesday, November 28

Giving Tuesday, November 28

Every year on Giving Tuesday, millions of people around the world join together to support causes and organizations that are making a difference. At the University of Michigan, impactful projects across all three campuses and Michigan Medicine are funded each year thanks to the generosity of the U-M community on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  With a…

Huda Akil, Ph.D., wins National Medal of Science Award

Huda Akil, Ph.D., wins National Medal of Science Award

October 24, 2023, The White House: In a formal ceremony presided over by President Biden, Huda Akil, Ph.D., was honored with the National Medal of Science Award, the nation’s highest scientific honor. A Center for RNA Biomedicine Faculty Member, Dr. Akil’s research focuses on understanding the neurobiology of emotions, including pain, anxiety, depression and substance…

For the Walter Lab, the proof is in the fluorescent pudding
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For the Walter Lab, the proof is in the fluorescent pudding

How do you prove, in a laboratory setting studying objects in size just one-thousandth of the diameter of a hair, that something is doing what it is designed to do? The Walter Lab at the University of Michigan is doing just that, through single-molecule fluorescence imaging and tracking, and recently for a tiny nano engine…

Michigan Medicine Health Lab features CRB faculty work with biomarkers

Michigan Medicine Health Lab features CRB faculty work with biomarkers

Research Update: Sunitha Nagrath and Muneesh Tewari. CRB Faculty Members Sunitha Nagrath, Ph.D., and Muneesh Tewari, Ph.D., M.D., are learning the potential that liquid biopsies hold as a potential non-invasive, diagnostic tool. Their research is cited in a new article recently published in Health Lab. Dr. Nagrath reveals that circulating biomarkers found in bodily fluids…

John Prensner charts a new path toward global standardization for ribosome profiling (Ribo-Seq)
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John Prensner charts a new path toward global standardization for ribosome profiling (Ribo-Seq)

Rooted firmly in his lab suite tucked deep within the core of the Pentagon-esque Medical Sciences Research Building (MSRB) complex on the University of Michigan campus, John Prensner, M.D., Ph.D., is focused on bringing to light an area of genomic investigation involving a hive of “worker bees” called noncanonical ORFs (open reading frames), that play…

Nobel Prize Awarded to 2024 RNA Symposium Speaker Drew Weissman

Nobel Prize Awarded to 2024 RNA Symposium Speaker Drew Weissman

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. 1  Read the full press release. Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D., will be featured as a keynote speaker at the Center for RNA Biomedicine’s 8th annual RNA Symposium in March, 2024 at the University of…

LSA researcher Monica Dus named White House Fellow

LSA researcher Monica Dus named White House Fellow

A University of Michigan researcher has been appointed a 2023-24 White House Fellow. Monica Dus, associate professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology in LSA, was chosen through a highly competitive selection process for her efforts in communicating science to the public. Dus was placed with the Department of the Navy. “I am so honored…

Dus and Wilinski publish significant discovery in insulin synthesis in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
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Dus and Wilinski publish significant discovery in insulin synthesis in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

The discovery of insulin has saved the lives of millions of people with diabetes worldwide, but little is known about the first step of insulin synthesis. Researchers at the University of Michigan have uncovered part of this mystery. Examining messenger RNAs involved in the production of insulin in fruit flies, they found that a chemical…

Dr. Michelle Hastings New Director of the M-RNA Therapeutics Initiative at The Center for RNA Biomedicine

Dr. Michelle Hastings New Director of the M-RNA Therapeutics Initiative at The Center for RNA Biomedicine

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Michelle Hastings has joined us as a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacology, and Director of the M-RNA Therapeutics Initiative at The Center for RNA Biomedicine. Dr. Hastings will lead one of the largest teams of RNA scientists in the world, as Director of M-RNA Therapeutics within…

2023 Symposium

7th Annual RNA Symposium, “From Molecules to Medicines” Friday, March 24, 2023, 8:30 am – 4:00 pm A. Alfred Taubman Biomedical Science Research Bldg, Kahn Auditorium 109 Zina Pitcher Pl, Ann Arbor, Michigan MiSciWriters Blog          

2022-2023 Seminars

2022 Monday, September 12, 4:00 pm, Zhipeng Lu, USC – Link to Recording Monday, September 26, 4:00 pm, David Shechner, University of Washington  Monday, October 10, 4:00 pm, Polly Hsu, Michigan State University – Link to Recording Monday, October 17, 4:00 pm, John Cooke, Houston Methodist – Link to Recording Monday, November 21, 4:00 pm,…

RNA Featured Researcher – Milan Samanta, Human Genetics

Milan Samanta Posdoctoral Fellow, Kalantry lab Department of Human Genetics Google Scholar Who/what brought you to science? Early on in my education, I was not very interested in science. This changed when I met my favorite professor, Dr. Rajesh Ali, while studying microbiology during my bachelor’s degree. Dr. Ali’s mentorship inspired me to peruse research…

RNA Featured Researcher – Renke Tan, Biological Chemistry

Renke Tan Ph.D. Student, advisor: Yan Zhang Department of Biological Chemistry Google Scholar LinkedIn Twitter Who/what brought you to science? Central dogma! I was obsessed by the central dogma in high school textbook and became interest in biological science. What are your research interests? I’m interested in developing new CRISPR based tools to enable previously…

RNA Featured Researcher – Guoming Gao, Biophysics Graduate Program

Guoming Gao Biophysics Graduate Program, advisor: Nils G. Walter Google Scholar LinkedIn Twitter Who/what brought you to science? The Encyclopedia of Human Body, my favorite book when I was a kid. It showed me a fascinating world of cell biology where different human cells cooperate to achieve and maintain body functions.. What are your research…

RNA Featured Researcher – Nico Gomez, Cellular and Molecular Biology

Nico Gomez MSTP Fellow, Cellular and Molecular Biology Sami Barmada Lab Who/what brought you to science? I’ve been fascinated with nature for as long as I can remember. My curiosity for biological systems eventually turned inwards towards those that governed my behavior, thoughts, and emotions. My exposure to the medical field, in turn, reshaped these…

RNA Featured Researcher – Samantha Grudzien, Neuroscience Graduate Program

Samantha Grudzien Graduate Student Researcher U-M Neuroscience Graduate Program, Peter Todd Lab   Who/what brought you to science? Although not scientists, my mother has been in the medical field for over 30 years and my father has been a computer programmer. From their influence, I had an interest in STEM, and as I continued my…

Rachel Niederer, University of Michigan RNA Faculty Fall 2022

We are thrilled to announce that Rachel Niederer as agreed to join us as a faculty member in Biological Chemistry, the Center for RNA Biomedicine, and the LSI. About Dr. Rachel Niederer: Dr. Niederer completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland, College Park in Biochemistry and Cell Biology/Molecular Genetics where she worked with Dr….

RNA Featured Researcher – Yaping Liu, Program in Biophysics

  Yaping Liu, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow Program in Biophysics, Sarah Keane Lab   Who/what brings you to science? A curiosity to know how to use various imaging techniques to observe biological macromolecules in three dimensions to understand their structure, function, and interactions. What are your research interests? Understanding the molecular basis of noncoding RNA…

RNA Featured Researcher – Michael McMillan, Cellular and Molecular Biology

Michael McMillan Ph.D. candidate Cellular and Molecular Biology Mentor: Dr. Sami Barmada Who/what brought you to science? I became interested in science during jr. high and high school after having three great teachers that promoted experimentation and thinking critically about science. I really enjoyed learning the intricacies of nature so I went on to study…