Day 2 of RNA Canada ARN was a spectacular day for scientists, industry partners, policy makers and members of the public!
The day opened with a fantastic plenary session and panel discussion hosted by Tasha Kheireddin and entitled “Promises and Challenges of RNA-based Medicines“. Dr. Pieter Cullis and Dr. Adrian Krainer started the session with opening remarks highlighting the promise of lipid nanoparticles and antisense therapeutics, followed by a panel discussion sponsored by Biovectra and featuring Drs. Adrian Krainer, Pieter Cullis, Phil Sharp, Jared Davis and
Rodrigo Arancibia.
The conference then moved into the concurrent sessions, featuring spectacular talks spread across sessions on i) RNA enzymes, aptamers, sensors and bioengineering ii) RNA processing, maturation and disease and iii) RNA modification.
After the concurrent sessions, the lunch was split between three panels and roundtables: a mentor/mentee lunch; a Industry sponsor presentation lunch hosted by Dr. Jonathan Perreault (INRS); and an open discussion with the heads of funding agencies and featuring Drs. Mohammad Nasser-Eddine (Vice President of Programs and Planning, CFI); Marc Fortin (Vice-President of the Research Grants and Scholarships, NSERC); Frédéric Bouchard (Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, U Montreal);Christian Baron (Vice President, Research – Programs, CIHR); Lakshmi Krishnan (Vice President of Life Sciences, NRC) and Jean-Pierre Perreault (Vice President Research, U Sherbrooke).
The afternoon then featured the next round of concurrent sessions, on i) RNA, viruses and manipulation of their hosts, ii) Regulatory RNAs: markers, targets, structure and function, and iii) RNA binding proteins, followed by the first poster session, sponsored by the Office of Research and Health Science Education at the Temerity Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
The evening concluded with two fantastic events. First was a plenary talk by Dr. Jack Keene entitled “RNA binding proteins and RNA Regulons – Concepts for the Future”.
The final event was a panel discussion, hosted by Dr. Katherine Borden and Dr. Haissi Cui, entitled “Stories from the Clinic” which included panel members that were patients, clinicians and charities. The panel led a wonderful discussion featuring very personal and intimate stories linked to challenges to human health for which RNA biology shows great promise for therapeutic intervention. The panelists included Teri DeClercq (parent of a patient), Lauren Frenz (parent of a patient), Terry Hawrysh (patient), Dr. Florian Kuchenbauer (UBC, physician, adult cancer), Kris Noakes (patient) and Dr. Aren Marshall (University of Ottawa physician, pediatric genetic diseases).
RNA Canada ARN continues into Day 3! Highlights include concurrent sessions on RNA translation, RNP granules and RNA biology in disease; the EDI workshop; a RNA Canada ARN public session; book signing with Tom Cech and John Mattick and an extensive social gathering featuring a job fair, a networking session and concurrent session on RNA technologies. See you there!