SC2: Circular RNAs as a New Therapeutic Modality
MONDAY, OCTOBER 19 | 2:30 – 5:30 PM
ABOUT THIS COURSE:
Circular RNA (circRNA) is a type of single-stranded RNA which forms a continuous loop due to the covalent binding of its 3′ and 5′ ends. They are naturally formed in the cell and found to play a role in cancer, CNS, cardiovascular and other
diseases. The closed loop structure makes it less susceptible to exonuclease-mediated degradation and presumably more stable than most linear RNAs, which is appealing from a therapeutic standpoint. Studies involving the formation and function of circRNAs
are still preliminary, however, there is a lot of interest in exploring its role in disease and how they can they used. This course aims to provide an introduction to circRNA biology, their function and how they can be used in drug development. The
chemistry leading to design and manufacturing of circRNAs as potential therapeutics, and issues dealing with dosing, biodistribution, immunogenicity will also be discussed.
COURSE AGENDA:
2:30 Welcome Remarks and Speaker Introductions
2:45 Introduction to Circular RNA with Applications to Various Disease Systems
Bojan Losic, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Circular RNA: what they are, how some form, how to find them, why they're important
- Circular RNA as cell-type specific biomarkers in various disease systems
3:45 Coffee Break
4:00 Regulation of Cellular Functions and Disease Biology by Therapeutic Circular RNAs
Samie Jaffrey, MD, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, Weill Medical College, Cornell University
- New methods for synthesizing circular RNA in cells and in vitro
- New uses of circular RNA for modulating cellular pathways
5:00 Open discussion and summary of key takeaways
5:30 End of Course
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES:
Samie Jaffrey, MD, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, Weill Medical College, Cornell University
Dr. Samie Jaffrey is a Professor of Pharmacology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He received an M.D. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and conducted graduate and postdoctoral work there as well.
Dr. Jaffrey’s laboratory focuses on identifying novel RNA regulatory pathways that control protein expression in normal cellular function and in disease processes. His research uses novel imaging, sequencing, microfluidic,
and chemical biology approaches to address these questions.
Bojan Losic, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Bojan Losic is an Associate Member of the Cancer Immunology program at the Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI) and an Associate Professor at the Department of Genetics and Genomics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMS). His research group focuses
on RNA sequencing method development to facilitate analysis across various disease systems, but has a particular interest in characterizing noncoding RNA species, including profiling circular RNA as biomarkers and potential therapeutics.