World Leaders in RNA Nanotech to Converge in Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 19, 2013) — World leaders in RNA nanotechnology will visit Lexington this spring for a scientific meeting hosted by the University of Kentucky.
The second International Conference of RNA Nanotechnology and Therapeutics will take place April 3-5 at the Crowne Plaza Campbell House in Lexington.
The meeting will highlight current research and explore future prospects of RNA nanotechnology in therapeutics. The meeting will provide a platform for researchers from academia, government and the pharmaceutical industry to share existing knowledge, vision, technology and challenges in the field, and to promote collaboration among researchers interested in advancing this emerging scientific discipline.
Attendees will be able to hear from more than 35 invited speakers on a variety of topics. The broad-ranging scientific program for the conference encompasses sessions on the following: biophysical and single-molecule approaches in RNA nanotechnology; RNA structure and folding in nanoparticles; RNA computation and modeling; RNA nanoparticle assembly; RNA nanoparticles in therapeutics; RNA chemistry for synthesis, conjugation and labeling of nanoparticles; RNA systems biology and engineering; and exosomes and extracellular RNA communication.
Keynote speakers at the conference will be David Lilley, professor of molecular biology and director of the Cancer Research U.K. Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group at the University of Dundee, U.K.; and Eric Westhof, professor of structural biochemistry and director of the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Strasbourg, France.
The conference will be co-chaired by Peixuan Guo, the William Farish Endowed Chair of Nanobiotechnology in UK's College of Pharmacy and Markey Cancer Center; Neocles Leontis, professor of chemistry at Bowling Green State University; John Rossi, chair and professor of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope; and Bruce Shapihiro, head of the Computational RNA Structure Group of the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research.
The conference is sponsored by UK's Office of the Vice President for Research, the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer – Cancer Nanotechnology Platform Partnerships, Guangzhou Biomotor and RNA Nanotech Development Co. Ltd., Integrated DNA Technologies Inc., and Gene Tools LLC.
More information is available at http://nanobio.uky.edu/RNA2013. Registration is open and may be completed at http://www.cecentral.com/live/5567/fees.