“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…
Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 4:00-5:00 Eastern Time Zoom link Hosted by the University of Michigan Center for RNA Biomedicine It’s not the gene, it’s the neighborhood: Effects of large scale chromosomal structure on bacterial transcription Peter Freddolino, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Biological Chemistry and Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics Member of the Center for RNA Biomedicine Executive…
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.
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…
Markos Koutmos, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Biophysics & Chemistry Markos Koutmos joined the Center’s Executive Committee in 2020. The Koutmos lab is interested in understanding how the 3D structure and dynamics of proteins and RNAs drive their biological function. His lab combines chemistry, biophysics and biology approaches to build a foundation of basic knowledge for…
by Dr. Kretzler and his team, and Elisabeth Paymal, U-M Center for RNA Biomedicine The scientific response to the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly evolving. Every day, scientists are making discoveries based on years of investment in training and expertise that resulted in the accumulation of large, shared, high quality data sets now ready to be…
By Adam Diehl, Alan Boyle, and Elisabeth Paymal, Center for RNA Biomedicine Until recently, little was known about how transposable elements contribute to gene regulation. These are little pieces of DNA that can replicate themselves and spread out in the genome. Although they make up nearly half of the human genome, these were often ignored…
The Center for RNA Biomedicine offers bi-weekly RNA Innovation Seminars that feature visiting professors, U of M faculty, and students. The seminars cover a broad array of topics about RNA research and its application. In addition to learning about the latest research in the field, it is an opportunity to meet colleagues, network, and foster…
Dr. Stephanie Moon is Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan (U-M) Medical School, and a faculty scholar at the U-M Center for RNA Biomedicine. She joined our RNA community in January 2020, and is the first RNA BSI faculty hire. Dr. Moon brings to Michigan an extensive experience…
The cell is a complex network of interacting components, or molecules, each of them with its own characteristics and all of them together functioning as a living system. Each of the molecular processes and interactions in the cell bears the risk of becoming dysfunctional, resulting in disease. Biomedical research into processes that power the cell…
Over half of our genomes are made of repeating elements within DNA. In rare cases, these repeats can become unstable and grow in size. These repeat “expansions” cause neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Dementia as well as learning disorders and autism in Fragile X syndrome. Research to date has focused on how these expanded…
Amanda Garner, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Medicinal Chemistry The Garner Laboratory is developing novel high-throughput screening assays for the discovery of chemical probes for targeting microRNAs and microRNA-microRNA-binding protein interactions. In addition, we are engaged in the discovery of new microRNA-binding proteins using chemical biology and proteomic approaches. Visit Lab Website Follow on Twitter:…
Ian Hall Graduate Student Keane Lab Department of Chemistry Who/what brought you to science? I had excellent mentors in high school and college that encouraged me to pursue science. What are your research interests? I study the structure and function of regulatory RNAs. I am interested in the molecular mechanisms by which RNA…
Sarah Owen Ph.D. Candidate Sunitha Nagrath’s lab Department of Chemical Engineering Who/what brought you to science?I have always enjoyed biology and have been fascinated by its complexities. Everything is profoundly interconnected, from within a single cell to the tissue and organism level, and I wanted to understand how it all works. What are your research…
Elizabeth Tidwell Graduate Student, Markos Koutmos Group Program in Biophysics Who/what brought you to science? From a young age, I wanted to understand the reasons behind natural phenomena. During my pre-college and college education, I became fascinated with the interconnection between math, chemistry, and biology; how they can be combined to explain what…
Vivian G. Cheung, M.D. Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of Pediatric Research Research Professor, U-M Life Sciences Institute Professor of Pediatrics, U-M Medical School Professor of Human Genetics, U-M Medical School Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute We study regulation of transcription; in particular, RNA-DNA sequence differences, RNA polymerase pausing and R-loop. We are interested in the…
Monica Dus, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology The Dus lab is interested in understanding how the environment reshapes brain and behavior. To this end we are studying how diet changes the physiology of the brain by altering metabolic-epigenetic pathways at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, and how this,…
Jayakrishnan Nandakumar, Ph.D. Associate Professor Departments of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology We are interested in the biogenesis, trafficking, recruitment to telomeres, and catalytic mechanism of the RNP enzyme telomerase. We are also investigating other noncoding RNAs that are involved in gene regulation. Visit Lab Website Follow on Twitter: @LabNandakumar What are your research…
Carlos Andres Aguilar, PhD Assistant Professor Biomedical Engineering College of Engineering The long-term goal of the NOBEL (nano-omic-bio-engineering-laboratory) is to make breakthroughs in medicine and biology that instill hope and inspire others. To accomplish this feat, we develop, optimize and apply innovative technologies such as integrative genomic assays and high-throughput sequencing, micro/nanofabricated devices, genome…
Kaushik Ragunathan Assistant Professor Department of Biological Chemistry My lab is interested in the molecular mechanisms that define how the combinatorial logic of histone modifications and its dynamic interactions with histone binding proteins encodes stable and heritable patterns of gene expression. We take a multidisciplinary perspective that synthesizes genetics, biochemistry and biophysical approaches to capture…
