Sunday
2:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Arrival and Check-in
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introductory Comments by GRC Staff / Welcome and Introduction from the Chairs
7:40 pm - 9:30 pm
Keynote Session: Global Impacts of Nucleic Acid Medicine
Discussion Leader: Steven Dowdy (UCSD School of Medicine, United States)
7:40 pm - 8:05 pm
Stanley Crooke (n-Lorem Foundation, United States)
"Advancing the Health of Human Beings around the World"
8:05 pm - 8:20 pm
Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:45 pm
Akshay Vaishnaw (Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, United States)
"RNAi Therapeutics, The Next Chapter"
8:45 pm - 8:55 pm
Discussion
8:55 pm - 9:20 pm
Rubina Parmar (Intellia Therapeutics, United States)
"Harnessing the power of CRISPR for therapeutic applications"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Monday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Structural Chemistry of Nucleic Acids
Discussion Leader: Dinshaw Patel (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, United States)
9:00 am - 9:20 am
Ian Macrae (Scripps Research, United States)
"Structures and Mechanisms of Argonaute Proteins"
9:20 am - 9:30 am
Discussion
9:30 am - 9:50 am
Martin Egli (Vanderbilt University, United States)
"Structure Derived Applications of Xeno Nucleic Acids in RNAi Therapeutics"
9:50 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:25 am
Coffee Break
10:25 am - 10:50 am
Marcin Nowotny (International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Poland)
"Mechanisms of Interactions Between Therapeutic Oligonucleotides and Proteins"
10:50 am - 11:10 am
Discussion
11:10 am - 11:35 am
Amanda Bryant-Friedrich (Wayne State University, United States)
"Creation of a Nucleic Acids' Toolbox for the Treatment and Etiology of Disease"
11:35 am - 11:45 am
Discussion
11:45 am - 11:55 am
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
11:55 am - 12:00 pm
Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:10 pm
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
12:10 pm - 12:15 pm
Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:25 pm
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The GRC Power Hourâ„¢
The GRC Power Hourâ„¢ is designed to address diversity and inclusion in the scientific workplace by providing a safe environment for informal and meaningful conversations amongst colleagues of all career stages. The program supports the professional growth of all members of our communities, including ethnicity, race and/or gender identity by providing an open forum for discussion and mentoring.
Organizer: Amanda Bryant-Friedrich (Wayne State University, United States)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Nucleoside and Nucleotide Natural Products
Discussion Leader: Christian Ducho (Saarland University, Germany)
7:30 pm - 7:55 pm
Rebecca Goss (University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom)
"GenoChemetics Applied to Making New to Natural Nucleoside-containing Antibiotics"
7:55 pm - 8:05 pm
Discussion
8:05 pm - 8:30 pm
Seok-Yong Lee (Duke University School of Medicine, United States)
"Chemical Logic of MraY Inhibition by Antibacterial Nucleoside Natural Products"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm
Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:05 pm
Steven Van Lanen (University of Kentucky, United States)
"Enzymatic Transformation of Nucleosides and Nucleotides into Antibiotics"
9:05 pm - 9:15 pm
Discussion
9:15 pm - 9:25 pm
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 am
Group Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Challenges and Opportunities for Nucleic Acid Therapeutics
Discussion Leader: P.I. Pradeepkumar (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India)
9:00 am - 9:20 am
Joanna Kowalska (University of Warsaw, Poland)
"Improving and Tailoring mRNA Therapeutics with Chemical Modifications"
9:20 am - 9:30 am
Discussion
9:30 am - 9:50 am
Rakesh Veedu (Murdoch University, Australia)
"Thiomorpholino Oligonucleotides (TMOs): A Robust Next Generation Platform for RNA Targeting Therapies"
9:50 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 10:50 am
Hiroshi Abe (Nagoya University, Japan)
"Design and Synthesis of mRNA by Chemical Methods"
10:50 am - 11:00 am
Discussion
11:00 am - 11:20 am
Pascaline Aimé-Wilson (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States)
"SNCA-targeting siRNAs Prevent Disease Progression in a Synucleinopathy Mouse Model"
11:20 am - 11:30 am
Discussion
11:30 am - 11:50 am
Ken Yamada (UMass Chan Medical School, United States)
"Extended Nucleic Acid (exNA): A platform technology development for enhancing siRNA potency in vivo"
11:50 am - 12:00 pm
Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:10 pm
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
12:10 pm - 12:15 pm
Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:25 pm
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Oligonucleotide Therapeutics
Discussion Leader: Krishna Ganesh (IISER Tirupati India, India)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm
Isabel Aznarez (Stoke Therapeutics, United States)
"A Novel RNA-Based Approach to Treat Genetic Diseases via Upregulation of Protein Expression"
7:50 pm - 7:55 pm
Discussion
7:55 pm - 8:15 pm
Kallanthottathil Rajeev (Verve Therapeutics, United States)
"Spacer Fidelity Assessment of Guide RNAs"
8:15 pm - 8:20 pm
Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:40 pm
Maja Janas De Angelis (Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, United States)
"Improving Safety and Specificity of RNAi Therapeutics"
8:40 pm - 8:45 pm
Discussion
8:45 pm - 9:05 pm
Arthur Levin (Avidity Biosciences, United States)
"Recent Advances in Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates for the Treatment of Muscular Dystrophies"
9:05 pm - 9:10 pm
Discussion
9:10 pm - 9:25 pm
Chandra Vargeese (Wave Life Sciences, United States)
"Advancing Oligonucleotide Therapeutics with Chimeric Phosphoryl Guanidine-Containing Backbone"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Wednesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Small Molecules: Chemistry and Applications
Discussion Leader: Bruce Armitage (Carnegie Mellon University, United States)
9:00 am - 9:25 am
Blanton Tolbert (CWRU, United States)
"Leveraging Biophysics and Viral Evolution to Discover Novel RNA Targets for Therapeutic Intervention"
9:25 am - 9:35 am
Discussion
9:35 am - 10:00 am
Harry De Koning (University of Glasgow, United Kingdom)
"7-deazaadenosine analogs are highly promising lead compounds against protozoan pathogens"
10:00 am - 10:10 am
Discussion
10:10 am - 10:35 am
Coffee Break
10:35 am - 11:00 am
Andrea Brancale (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic)
"Nucleoside Analogues Beyond Antivirals and Anticancer: Exploring Their Potential Against Schistosoma"
11:00 am - 11:10 am
Discussion
11:10 am - 11:35 am
Zlatko Janeba (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
"Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase Inhibitors for the Treatment of T-Cell Leukemias"
11:35 am - 11:45 am
Discussion
11:45 am - 12:05 pm
Chris Meier (University of Hamburg, Germany)
"Membrane-permeAble, STabilized biorEversible-pRotected Adenine Nucleotide second Messengers - MASTER-NAADP and -AMP derivatives for Chemical Biology"
12:05 pm - 12:15 pm
Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:25 pm
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Therapeutics for Coronaviruses
Discussion Leader: Joy Feng (Gilead, United States)
7:30 pm - 7:55 pm
Bruno Canard (CNRS-Aix Marseille University, France)
"The Metabolic Activation Pathway and Mechanism of Action of Bemnifosbuvir Against the SARS-CoV-2 Replicase"
7:55 pm - 8:05 pm
Discussion
8:05 pm - 8:30 pm
Mattias Gotte (University of Alberta, Canada)
"Can Biochemical Data Predict Antiviral Activities of Nucleotide Analogue Inhibitors of Viral Polymerases?"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm
Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:05 pm
Raymond Schinazi (Emory University, United States)
"Discovery and Development of Novel Nucleoside Analogs for SARS-CoV-2 Infections"
9:05 pm - 9:15 pm
Discussion
9:15 pm - 9:25 pm
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Thursday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 am
Business Meeting
Nominations for the Next Vice Chair(s); Complete the GRC Evaluation Forms; Discuss Future Dates and Venue; Election of the Next Vice Chair(s)
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Chemical Biology and Nucleic Acid-Based Diagnostics
Discussion Leader: Piet Herdewijn (KU Leuven, Belgium)
9:00 am - 9:25 am
Mehnaaz Ali (Xavier University of Louisiana, United States)
"Allosteric aptamers as molecular switches for target sensing"
9:25 am - 9:35 am
Discussion
9:35 am - 10:00 am
Sabine Muller (University of Greifswald, Germany)
"Development of RNA-Based Tools for Diagnostic and Therapy"
10:00 am - 10:10 am
Discussion
10:10 am - 10:40 am
Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:05 am
Andrea Rentmeister (University of Münster, Germany)
"Optical control of mRNA translation"
11:05 am - 11:15 am
Discussion
11:15 am - 11:40 am
Yi Xiao (NC State University, United States)
"Using Aptamers to Detect Small Molecules"
11:40 am - 11:50 am
Discussion
11:50 am - 12:10 pm
Yana Cen (Virginia Commonwealth University, United States)
"Differential Regulation of SIRT5 Activity by Nicotinamide Riboside"
12:10 pm - 12:15 pm
Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:25 pm
Short Talk Selected from Poster Abstracts
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
RNA-Targeting and Epitranscriptomes
Discussion Leader: Maureen McKeague (McGill University, Canada)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm
Amanda Garner (University of Michigan, United States)
"Enabling Technologies for Revealing Druggable Paths in RNA Biology"
7:50 pm - 7:55 pm
Discussion
7:55 pm - 8:15 pm
Ronald Micura (University of Innsbruck, Austria)
"Engineering of Riboswitch Aptamers for Covalent RNA Modification"
8:15 pm - 8:20 pm
Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:40 pm
Satoshi Obika (Osaka University, Japan)
"Development of Nucleoside Derivatives to Improve Safety of Gapmer Antisense Oligonucleotides"
8:40 pm - 8:45 pm
Discussion
8:45 pm - 9:05 pm
Christopher Brown (Korro Bio, United States)
"Harnessing Endogenous ADAR for Oligo-Directed RNA Editing"
9:05 pm - 9:10 pm
Discussion
9:10 pm - 9:25 pm
Barbara Nawrot (Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland)
"Function of Chemical Modifications in Bacterial tRNAs"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Friday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am
Departure