Conference Description
The Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Oligonucleotides (NNO) Gordon Research Conference is dedicated to understanding the fundamental chemistry and biology of its title compounds and developing technology for the diagnosis and treatment of human disease. Nucleosides and nucleotides are important chemical probes, pharmaceutical lead compounds and clinically approved drugs for the treatment of a variety of metabolic, infectious and genetic diseases. Separately, they are also essential precursors to many classes of oligonucleotides, which are widely used in molecular and chemical biology and, increasingly, in the clinic as diagnostics and therapeutics. Emerging areas like gene editing and mRNA therapeutics are being built on the knowledge and experience utilizing the monomers and methods developed for NNOs.
The 2019 edition will be the 20th offering of the NNO GRC and will reflect the evolution of the field and the current explosive growth of NNO based therapeutics, from its original focus on purine chemistry and biology to the much broader current scope. The conference will bring together academic, industrial and government scientists to present and discuss the latest research concerning the design, synthesis and characterization of both small molecules and oligomers. Notably, industrial representation at the meeting is typically three times the GRC average, providing collaboration opportunities for established scientists and giving students networking opportunities that could prove beneficial in future job searches. The scientific program will begin with a keynote lecture on therapeutic oligonucleotides and the eight subsequent sessions will cover topics that include the discovery and development of anticancer and antiviral drugs, small molecule recognition of DNA and RNA, nucleic acids chemical biology, backbone-modified oligonucleotides and DNA modification and repair. In addition, several poster presentations will be selected for short talks based on the abstracts submitted. Finally, the NNO GRC is further enhanced by a vibrant social environment, a GRC Power Hour to discuss issues faced by women in science, and an affiliated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) to promote discussion and networking by students and postdocs.
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by February 23, 2019. Please check back for updates.
Keynote Session: mRNA Therapeutics
Discussion Leaders
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Bruce Armitage (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
Speakers
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Melissa Moore (Moderna Therapeutics, USA)
Small Molecule Recognition of DNA and RNA
Discussion Leaders
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Jennifer Heemstra (Emory University, USA)
Speakers
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Amanda Hargrove (Duke University, USA)
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Jay Schneekloth (National Cancer Institute, NIH, USA)
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Steven Zimmerman (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Synthesis and Applications of Backbone-Modified Oligonucleotides
Discussion Leaders
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Subha Das (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
Speakers
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Daniel Appella (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH, USA)
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Eriks Rozners (Binghamton University, SUNY, USA)
Nucleoside/Nucleotide Drug Development
Discussion Leaders
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Katherine Seley-Radtke (University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA)
Speakers
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Steven Almo (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA)
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Suzanne Peyrottes (Université de Montpellier, France)
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Izzat Raheem (Merck, USA)
Synthetic Oligonucleotide Therapeutics
Discussion Leaders
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Muthiah Manoharan (Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, USA)
Speakers
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Phil Baran (The Scripps Research Institute, USA)
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Peter Glazer (Yale University, USA)
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Anastasia Khvorova (University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA)
Nucleic Acid Structure
Discussion Leaders
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Danzhou Yang (Purdue University, USA)
Speakers
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Millie Georgiadis (Indiana University School of Medicine, USA)
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Janez Plavec (National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia)
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Deborah Wuttke (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
Fluorescence Imaging Reagents
Discussion Leaders
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Byron Purse (San Diego State University, USA)
Speakers
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Steven Magennis (University of Glasgow, United Kingdom)
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Marit Nilsen-Hamilton (Iowa State University, USA)
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Yitzhak Tor (University of California, San Diego, USA)
Nucleic Acids Chemical Biology
Discussion Leaders
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Webster Santos (Virginia Tech, USA)
Speakers
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Tracy Brooks (Binghamton University, SUNY, USA)
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David Corey (University of Texas at Dallas, USA)
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Danith Ly (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
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Naoki Sugimoto (Frontier Institute for Biomolecular Engineering Research (FIBER), Konan University, Japan)
DNA Modification and Repair
Discussion Leaders
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Natalia Tretyakova (University of Minnesota, USA)
Speakers
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Cynthia Burrows (University of Utah, USA)
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Sarah Delaney (Brown University, USA)
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Patricia Opresko (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
