/rna/ en /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/exploring-rna-world-design-and-test-novel-therapeutic-approaches%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E When Martin Sauvageau, PhD, isn’t developing therapeutic approaches for liver, pancreatic, and neurodegenerative diseases, you may find him at home in his kitchen cooking up classical French recipes or Asian cuisine. Or, more leisurely, considering the parallels between RNA cellular networks and how a city works architecturally. However, in the lab at the Institute of Clinical Research in Montreal (IRCM), he’s on a mission, researching the mysteries of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA). Prof. Sauvageau, Research Director at the IRCM, completed his doctoral studies at the Institute for Immunology Fri, 28 Apr 2023 16:37:34 -0400 Timothy Gouldson 636 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/developing-new-therapeutics-based-rna-targeting-and-gene-editing%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E Many things have changed since Masad Damha, PhD, came to ����SM���� 44 years ago to study chemistry (BSc ’83; PhD ’87), though with the launch of the ����SM���� Centre for RNA Sciences (MCRS), he believes the passionate spirit of innovation that first drew him here from Nicaragua has only intensified. “When I joined Prof. Kelvin Ogilvie’s lab to pursue doctoral studies in nucleic acid chemistry, my main focus was chemical synthesis of RNA – a daunting task at that time,” recalls Prof. Damha. “Making RNA in large quantities was required for studying them by NMR or crystallography. Chemical synthesis Mon, 28 Nov 2022 12:14:42 -0500 Wendy Helfenbaum 635 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/using-powerful-computational-methods-understand-role-rna-human-cancers%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E At first glance, studying the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness does not necessarily seem like an obvious path to studying the causes of cancer in humans. But for Hamed Najafabadi, PhD, there is a common thread. After earning his PhD at ����SM����, he went to University of Toronto for a post-doctoral fellowship in new machine learning approaches. “When I look back, it’s very interesting how everything in my work connected to the regulation of RNA,” he says. “I transferred the same kinds of methods and techniques that I was using to understand the biology of a parasite to understanding Wed, 02 Nov 2022 15:43:47 -0400 Maureen McCarthy 634 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/manufacturing-biomaterials-enable-research%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E Amine Kamen, PhD, believes the new ����SM���� Centre for RNA Sciences (MCRS) will promote collaboration and innovation between leading researchers across the University. A Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at ����SM����’s Faculty of Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Bioprocessing of Viral Vectors and Vaccines, Prof. Kamen and his team track interactions between cells and viruses, then engineer cell cultures, so that viral vaccines can be developed and processed more efficiently. His research helps ensure that safe, effective vaccines can reach patients who need them – Tue, 01 Nov 2022 15:27:24 -0400 Wendy Helfenbaum 633 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/aids-covid-19-promise-rna-therapeutics%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E Anne Gatignol, PhD, has explored the molecular world of RNA and RNA viruses for more than 30 years. A virologist recognized internationally for her work on virus-cell interactions during HIV replication, she is a Professor in the Department of Medicine (Division of Experimental Medicine) and Department of Microbiology and Immunology in ����SM����’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. “RNA therapeutics are very promising,” says Prof. Gatignol. “They have tremendous potential, not just against viruses and infectious diseases, but also cancer, cardiovascular diseases and many other Tue, 01 Nov 2022 15:25:07 -0400 Allyson Rowley 632 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/single-cell-fluorescence-microscopy-sheds-light-stress-regulated-gene-mechanisms%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E When it comes to developing advanced technology to further scientific research, Maria Vera Ugalde, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at ����SM����’s School of Biomedical Sciences, proves that necessity is the mother of invention. After obtaining her PhD in cell biology from the University of Navarra, Spain, Prof. Vera Ugalde went to NYU Medical Center for postdoctoral training, then joined Robert Singer’s lab at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “The cell and molecular biology techniques I was using were not powerful enough to answer all my biological Tue, 01 Nov 2022 15:22:40 -0400 Maureen McCarthy 631 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/conversation-mcgills-guru-mrna%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E Canada’s leading expert on mRNA, Nahum Sonenberg, PhD, is the Gilman Cheney Chair in Biochemistry at ����SM����’s Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute. Prof. Sonenberg, who earned his PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1976, has dedicated more than 50 years to the study of RNA biology. His exploration of the mechanics of RNA translation and how it is regulated, both in normal conditions and in disease states, has improved science’s understanding of diseases including cancer, diabetes, autism and fragile X syndrome. When he joined ����SM���� in 1979, he had already made Mon, 31 Oct 2022 23:17:12 -0400 Allyson Rowley 630 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/maureen-mckeague-how-mcgills-interdisciplinary-team-could-uncover-multifaceted-potential-artificial%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E Interdisciplinarity has always been central to the research of Maureen McKeague, PhD. As a joint Assistant Professor between the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science at ����SM����, her work intersects with medicine, chemistry and engineering. RNA and DNA aptamers — short sequences of artificial RNA or DNA that bind to a specific target molecule — have long been at the heart of Prof. McKeague’s passion for discovery. The fact that scientists can tailor them to target certain Wed, 26 Oct 2022 15:59:06 -0400 Jane O'Faherty 629 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/study-what-dictates-protein-output-mrnas-blocking-mrna-expression-mcgills-jerry-pelletier-has%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E Jerry Pelletier, PhD, a Professor at ����SM����’s Department of Biochemistry and Department of Oncology, and a member of the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, is a distinguished RNA biology researcher who brings a unique and significant focus on the developing area of RNA research as a co-founder of the ����SM���� Centre for RNA Sciences. Professor Pelletier, co-author of 286 peer-reviewed publications and, recipient of the 2019 Robert Noble Award from the Canadian Cancer Society for outstanding achievements in basic biomedical cancer research, first developed an interest in RNA Wed, 26 Oct 2022 12:47:49 -0400 Justin Hand-Gregory 628 /rna/%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//www.mcgill.ca/rna/article/how-rna-research-could-provide-valuable-insights-rare-inherited-tumours-qa-william-foulkes%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E William Foulkes, MBBS, PhD, is a James ����SM���� Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Oncology and Human Genetics at ����SM���� and a researcher-clinician who has practiced clinical genetics at ����SM����-affiliated hospitals since 1996. Dr. Foulkes and his research team work with individuals and families who may have inherited susceptibility to develop tumours. “We first saw a connection between our research and RNA when we were working with a family experiencing thyroid goiter,” says Dr. Foulkes, a member of the recently created ����SM���� Centre for RNA Sciences, who also heads cancer Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:30:15 -0400 Jane O'Faherty 625