About the Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Roy Parker, PhD
University of Colorado Boulder
HHMI Investigator
Distinguished Professor
Cech-Leinwand Endowed Chair of Biochemistry
The Parker laboratory is interested in how RNP granules form and affect biological processes including viral infections and neurodegenerative diseases. Additional work in the lab focuses on how repeat expansions in RNAs can lead to human diseases and how those repeats alter RNA physiology.
Christopher Burge, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering
The Burge laboratory uses a combination of computational and experimental techniques to study RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and the mechanisms and implications of RNA splicing. Ultimately, the lab applies these molecular insights to genome-wide studies, with a particular emphasis on human variation, disease, and the evolution of gene regulation.
Anna Pyle, PhD
Yale School of Medicine
HHMI Investigator
Sterling Professor, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
Professor of Chemistry
The Pyle laboratory uses structural biology, enzymology, and cell biology to understand the structure and function of large RNA molecules, RNA remodeling enzymes, and cellular RNA sensors. Research in the laboratory focuses on linking molecular structure to biological function, which has enabled further efforts to develop RNA and small molecule modulators of immune function and antiviral response.
Invited Speakers
Joanna Kovalski, PhD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Member, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Kovalski laboratory uses multi-functional approaches to investigate the post-transcriptional regulatory networks that are dysregulated in cancer. The lab integrates functional transcriptome-wide sequencing approaches, RNA structure probing, and proteomics to elucidate the mechanisms of selective translation control during oncogenic transformation and disease progression and identify novel therapeutic targets.
Thomas Gonatopoulos-Pournatzis, PhD
Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute
Stadtman Investigator, RNA Biology Laboratory
The Gonatopoulos-Pournatzis laboratory has pioneered functional genomics strategies to study the function and regulation of alternative splicing. The lab integrates CRISPR screening with diverse phenotypic analyses, including cell fitness, splicing reporters, and single-cell transcriptomics to explore the regulatory and functional complexity of pre-mRNA processing, with the goal of devising novel therapeutics for cancers and other diseases.
Amanda Whipple, PhD
Harvard University
Assistant Professor
The Whipple laboratory investigates the cellular and physiological functions of imprinted genes in the brain, with an emphasis on non-coding RNAs. The lab’s research program centers on three focus areas: molecular mechanisms controlling imprinted gene expression, neuronal functions of imprinted non-coding RNAs, and new therapeutic opportunities for imprinted disorders.
Nicole Martinez, PhD
Stanford University
Assistant Professor, Departments of Chemical and Systems Biology, Developmental Biology
Stanford ChEM-H Institute Scholar
The Martinez laboratory studies RNA processing-mediated control of gene expression, with an emphasis on RNA modifications. The laboratory investigates mechanisms and functions of RNA modifications in pre-mRNA processing and their roles in development and disease through a combination of molecular biology, biochemistry, genomics, genetics, and systems biology approaches.