UNews - ARRTI

Dr. Athan Zovoilis has Canada Research Chair renewed for five-year term

trevor.kenney — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 19:56:49 +0000

Dr. Athan Zovoilis, professor in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, will continue his cutting-edge research with the renewal of his Tier 2 Canada Research Chair funding.

Zovoilis, a Canada Research Chair in RNA Bioinformatics and Genomics, will receive $500,000 over five years, part of Thursday’s Government of Canada announcement of more than $102 million in support of 119 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at 35 Canadian research institutions.

Dr. Athan Zovoilis, a Canada Research Chair in RNA Bioinformatics and Genomics, will receive $500,000 over five years.

“Our government recognizes that investing in researchers and scientists results in breakthroughs to advance our society and benefits all Canadians,” says François-Phillipe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry. “The Canada Research Chairs Program provides a unique opportunity for researchers to push boundaries and make cutting-edge discoveries with lasting impacts across the health, environment, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities disciplines.”

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), a CRCP partner, also commits to supporting nine of the chairs, at eight institutions, with an investment of close to $1.8 million through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund.

The renewal of his CRC funding will allow Zovoilis, director of the Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre (SAGSC) and a member of the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) and the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI), to continue his work on elucidating the role of a class of biomolecules called non-coding RNAs in health and disease. Often described as the “dark matter” of our genome, these RNAs are connected with human and animal health and disease. Supported by this funding, the Zovoilis lab will work on developing new next generation sequencing and bioinformatics approaches to study the transcriptome and epi-transcriptome of non-coding RNAs in various biological contexts such as aging associated diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, cellular response to stress, neurotoxicity and human and animal infections.

“This funding will advance further our capacity on genome sciences and bioinformatics built within SAGSC, CCBN and ARRTI,” says Zovoilis. “RNA is becoming increasingly an important player in aging research, neurodegenerative diseases and agriculture research, and developing the genomics tools to study it will enable the generation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches."

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is home to 13 Canada Research Chairs, in fields ranging from RNA genomics and hydrodynamics to child and youth studies, Indigenous arts, experimental astrophysics and more.

“The depth and breadth of our research chairs is reflective of the excellence of the faculty members throughout the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, vice-president (research). “Whatever faculty or school our students choose to study and do research in, it’s likely they will have the opportunity to learn and work with some of the best researchers in their respective fields. Dr. Zovoilis’ research and team, in particular, are leading Canadian innovation in RNA bioinformatics which expands scientific knowledge while also benefiting agri-food, health, and environmental development and sustainability.”

Biophysical Society of Canada recognizes Dr. Trushar Patel with 2021 Young Investigator Award

trevor.kenney — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 16:11:45 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge associate professor Dr. Trushar Patel (chemistry & biochemistry), an emerging leader in the biophysical characterization of viral nucleic acids, has been named winner of the 2021 Biophysical Society of Canada Young Investigator Award.

Patel, who came to the U of L in 2016 as an independent researcher, earned a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in RNA and Protein Biophysics in November 2017. His lab, based out of the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI), has earned extensive funding support in recent years as it investigates a variety of viral diseases covering everything from Hepatitis B to COVID-19.

“I am thrilled to receive this award, as it demonstrates the impact of my research activities that intersect various scientific disciplines,” says Patel.

Patel’s research focus is to obtain detailed insights into how viral nucleic acids interact with host proteins by employing interdisciplinary approaches. Information on the specific sites of host proteins that communicate with viral nucleic acids will ultimately allow the development of therapeutics that prevent host-viral communication. These interactions are essential for the survival and replication of a virus — stopping the interactions thereby assist in treating a viral infection.

“Curiosity-driven research often lays the foundation for translational work,” says Patel. “We hope that our work on viral-host communication will provide insights to deal with viral infections.”

Patel graduated with BSc (2000) and MSc (2002) degrees in biotechnology from India. He joined the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Nottingham in the United Kingdom for his PhD (2007) where he studied solution structure and interactions of plant polysaccharides. Subsequently, he joined the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba, where he studied structures of human extracellular matrix proteins. He also started working with RNA molecules during the later stages of his postdoctoral studies. His work was supported by postdoctoral fellowships from the Manitoba Institute of Child Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He was then successful in receiving the Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship (2013) by the European Union to work on a research program aimed at establishing the structure-function relationships of zyxin, a human cytoskeleton protein, at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Birmingham, UK.

Patel has published 79 peer-reviewed articles, 25 editorials and has served as a guest editor for four special volumes. He is also one of the editors of the European Biophysics Journal. He has been very active in training the next generation of researchers, as well as with scientific and science-policy-related conference organizing activities.

“I have been very fortunate to receive extraordinary training and support from my mentors. It is my turn now to train the next-generation researchers with the skills they require for their future careers in academia, and industry.”

ARRTI researcher earns $642,600 CIHR grant to investigate complex process of ribosome formation

trevor.kenney — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 15:39:15 +0000

Long-term goal is to inhibit interactions between small RNAs and ribosomal RNAs thereby depriving cancer cells of protein factories

Understanding one of the fundamental building blocks of life may also hold the key to unlocking new targets for the treatment of cancer. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Dr. Ute Kothe and her team will look to unravel the complex process of forming ribosomes, the body’s protein factories, through RNA research in a new five-year project that has received $642,600 in funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).

Dr. Ute Kothe is a professor of biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and a Board of Governors Teaching Chair.

Identifying Critical RNA-RNA Interactions during Ribosome Biogenesis is the title of the project that will be based at the U of L and within the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI), but also include collaborators at the Universities of Sherbrooke and McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Quebec, as well as three German institutions.

“What excites me about this project is the intersection between it being medically important and also fundamentally important to understanding life. If you don’t understand life, you cannot develop new therapeutic strategies,” says Kothe, a professor of biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Board of Governors Teaching Chair.

The CIHR grant has been close to a decade in the making. Kothe has revised and resubmitted her application multiple times over the years, indicating the competitive nature of these grants. By earning this funding, she is among the top 10 per cent of biomedical researchers in Canada. The grant also illustrates the growth and impact of biomedical research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and in particular ARRTI, as Kothe is the first of the research group to secure a CIHR Project Grant since ARRTI’s inception in 2012.

“This important CIHR grant will support Dr. Kothe in making foundational advances in our understanding of cancer cells and cancer treatment,” says Dr. Robert Wood, vice-president (research). “The U of L was recently named second in the country in our category in the Maclean’s rankings. The groundbreaking research being conducted by stellar colleagues such as Dr. Kothe is a major driver of this strong reputational standing.”

Kothe believes wholeheartedly in how this research can add to the body of knowledge around forming a complex biological machine, which is the prerequisite to better understanding cancer cell division and tumor growth.

“This study is a great example of how the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is contributing to biomedical research in Canada, and also illustrates the important link between fundamental and biomedical research — one doesn’t work without the other,” she says. “RNA research and cancer research go hand-in-hand and this is the strength we can build upon here in Lethbridge with ARRTI.”

All cancer types share a need for increased protein production to enable rapid cell divisions and tumor growth. Accordingly, all cancer cells are characterized by an enhanced production of protein factories called ribosomes and by an enlarged cellular compartment, where ribosomes are assembled.

“Cancer cells need the most proteins because they grow so rapidly. If a tumor wants to grow, it needs proteins, and cancer cells are smart – they have found a way to make more ribosomes, to make more protein machines, and that’s how they can outcompete all the other cells,” says Kothe.

Therefore, inhibiting ribosome formation is a promising future therapeutic strategy in cancer treatment. However, it is currently impossible to target this pathway because there is a fundamental lack of understanding ribosome formation. Kothe’s research aims to close this knowledge gap, thereby opening a new avenue for impairing assembly of protein factories in cancer.

“Ribosomes consist predominantly of RNA, a sister molecule of DNA,” says Kothe. “Critical steps during ribosome formation constitute the chemical modification and three-dimensional folding of ribosomal RNA. Interestingly, these steps are mediated by other small RNAs in the cell. Our long-term goal is to inhibit these interactions between small RNAs and ribosomal RNAs thereby depriving cancer cells of protein factories.”

That the grant stretches over five years affords an excellent opportunity for students to participate in the research work.

“This research grant opens training and employment opportunities for different researchers ranging from post-doctoral researchers who already have their PhD, as well as a couple of PhD and master’s students,” says Kothe, who plans to send students to Quebec and Germany to work with their collaborators as the study progresses. “I also think it’s important we include our undergraduate students in the research. It is one of our particular strengths at the U of L that we train them early and they get experience that really sets them up to go anywhere they want in the world.”

Kothe is enthused to get started and eager to unlock the mysteries of RNA in forming the body’s protein factories as the prerequisite for future RNA-targeted cancer therapeutics.

“RNA is an awesome drug target, so once we understand ribosome formation and the role of RNA in this process, we are one important step closer to targeting and inhibiting it in cancer. This should be a much more feasible treatment method than any other types of drugs.”

Cuban PhD student finds Wieden lab a perfect fit for her antimicrobial resistance studies

trevor.kenney — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 21:44:41 +0000

The idea of coming to Canada to continue her studies had been established long before Cuban-born Amanda Vazquez Gonzalez began seeking scholarship support to do so. Actually embarking on the trip, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to take over the planet, nearly ended her dream.

Vazquez Gonzalez is at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge now, the recipient of a Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) International Peace Scholarship (IPS) that has allowed her to work towards her PhD in biomolecular science as part of Dr. H.J. Wieden’s Laboratory for Biomolecular Design and Engineering. The IPS fund is a program which provides scholarships for selected women from other countries to pursue graduate studies in Canada or the United States.

“I am excited to have such an outstanding student join the U of L and my research team,” says Wieden. “Amanda’s story is an excellent example of the barriers students face and that we have to help overcome to enable a diverse and inclusive community. It also demonstrates how critical scholarships are for this.”

Her four-year program began in the spring and was nearly derailed before she ever got started.

“I almost abandoned my plans,” says Vazquez Gonzalez, who had to endure a 40-day stay in Nicaragua en route to Canada from Cuba as she waited for her study permit to be approved. “The Canadian embassy was closed in Cuba, so I had to wait for my visa in Nicaragua. It’s a very violent country and I had to be very careful. There were some very hard times.”

A native of Havana, Vazquez Gonzalez comes from a family of high achievers. Both her parents are microbiologists and her 17-year-old younger sister is ticketed for medical school. Vazquez Gonzalez earned a bachelor’s in biochemistry and molecular biology, followed by a master’s in biochemistry from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Havana.

“I had the idea that once I finished my master’s, I wanted to study abroad. My mother really talked me into that because she had been to Canada several times for work. She talked about how good the education was, the laboratories, and the quality of science,” she says. “I was looking for someone doing work that was related to what I was doing when I found the HJ group. I was really motivated to see this new line of research they were developing.”

Vazquez Gonzalez is interested in a career in the pharmaceutical industry and has been engaged in studies on drug resistance.

“I’ve been working for three years on antimicrobial resistance. I was always curious about drug development and how they would just take the same drugs we always had, make some modifications but then after one or two years they are obsolete again,” she says.

The Wieden lab provides a framework for antimicrobial development by dissecting essential mechanisms for bacterial survival and virulence. Vazquez Gonzalez aims to identify potential drug targets by studying bacterial translational GTPases of unknown functions, which could open new avenues for developing antimicrobials with novel mechanisms of action.

Work in the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) is world renowned and Vazquez Gonzalez sought out the U of L lab by researching their work online. She is currently holding an NSERC CREATE Graduate Award for participating in the RNA Innovation program. Her only disappointment since coming to Canada is being shut out of the state-of-the-art Science Commons facilities within which she will conduct her research. Still, she hasn’t let it slow down her studies.

“These last three months, I’ve been mostly doing theoretical work and writing the first chapter of my thesis, which always takes a lot of time,” she says. “The group has been wonderful and really supportive. That’s something I really like about Canada, it has very good opportunities for people from developing countries, like myself, to study. That’s one thing that really helped me decide to come here.”

Research paper examines novel approaches to addressing antibiotic-resistant pathogens

trevor.kenney — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 23:24:01 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers in the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) are making strides in addressing the antibiotic crisis caused by the steady emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Dr. HJ Wieden, standing, with student Josh Friesen in the ARRTI lab..

Recent work on the molecular basis of antibiotic action conducted in the research group of Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, director of ARRTI, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). This report, published in one of the three most influential scientific journals in the world, is a result of a collaboration with Dr. Scott Blanchard (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and adjunct professor at Weill Cornell Medical College) and Dr. Karissa Sanbonmatsu (Los Alamos National Laboratory).

“Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to be a global health risk and we need new strategies for developing antimicrobials,” says Wieden, a professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. “A global action plan on AMR was endorsed at the World Health Assembly in 2015 and even though this is one of the most predictable challenges for medicine worldwide, research focusing on identifying new antibiotics has diminished significantly.”

Wieden and his graduate students, including co-author Dr. Dylan Girodat (PhD ’19), study the bacterial ribosome and the biomolecular factors that regulate its function. The bacterial ribosome is the part of the essential cellular machinery responsible for protein production and therefore a target for more than 50 per cent of the currently used antibiotics.

A closer look at the ribosome.

Wieden says there are two broad approaches to addressing the issue, finding new drugs for known targets or identifying novel targets for known or existing drugs. Their paper, Elongation factor-Tu can repetitively engage aminoacyl-tRNA within the ribosome during the proofreading stage of tRNA selection, examines the EF-Tu protein and how it works with the ribosome during the complicated process of translation.

“By understanding, at the molecular level, how EF-Tu and the ribosome work together, we are convinced it will be possible to identify novel targets for antimicrobials or even a completely novel mode of action,” says Wieden.

The work by Girodat, who recently defended his PhD, has translated into an outstanding professional opportunity as well.

“Not only has Dylan’s work been published in a fantastic journal, he’s secured a postdoctoral position with Dr. Sanbonmatsu at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico,” says Wieden. “This is the kind of success and impact that sets U of L trainees apart.”

U of L graduate students earn GreenSTEM funding in support of biotech start-up

trevor.kenney — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 21:16:06 +0000

The southern Alberta biotech industry will get a boost this spring thanks to some innovative work out of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and funding support from the Government of Alberta’s GreenSTEM program.

Harland Brandon

Allos Bioscience, a start-up company that designs and produces protein-based biosensors, is led by PhD candidates Luc Roberts (BSc ’12) and Harland Brandon (BSc ’13). The two, with support from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI), its director Dr. H.J. Wieden, Dr. Wade Abbott of the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre and Synbridge (the synthetic biology makerspace on campus), are members of the first cohort of GreenSTEM fellows in the province.

Luc Roberts

“With the funding from GreenSTEM and the support of Synbridge and the Wieden lab, we now have the opportunity to leverage the rich infrastructure here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ,” says Roberts. “Without this funding, I doubt we ever would have attempted to do it. They partner you with business mentors, provide training opportunities and really help you create the foundation for your business. We actually came into the program after the first cohort was selected and the first thing we noticed was how supportive and collegial the other fellows are.”

GreenSTEM is an entrepreneurial pilot program for recent graduates of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) masters and PhD programs. It provides funding support over two years for entrepreneurially inclined, technically skilled participants who are working on hardware-based technologies with emissions reduction potential. The GreenSTEM fellows are hosted by Alberta’s research universities, including the U of L, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

Roberts and Brandon based their idea off work done by the U of L’s Dr. Dylan Girodat (BSc ’13, PHD ’19, currently working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory) and PhD candidate Dustin Smith (BSc ’13, MSc ’17).

“The detection of specific biomolecules is an important part of many industrial and academic processes,” says Roberts. “However, sensors that detect and differentiate between similar molecules are not readily available for all types of molecules, or require significant time and technical infrastructure for detection.”

Their company proposes to develop custom biosensors for a variety of applications, including the biofuel industry and any number of ag biotech uses. Their biosensors are biodegradable detection systems that provide rapid, sensitive and selective measurements of a desired chemical in solution. They currently have three working prototypes (each detecting a unique biomolecule) and their main focus is on green technologies.

“Our first priority is to do some strong market research, and talk to as many biofuel people as we can to show them what we have and whether it might be helpful to their business,” says Brandon. “Some of the first advice we’ve been offered about building our business, is to ensure we’re satisfying a need with our product.”

Roberts says they are also looking at custom applications, finding people in either energy or research sectors who have a need to detect certain molecules, then partnering with them to build a custom biosensor for that need.

“Either you make it and sell it directly to them or you license what you’ve designed and sell it to a biotech company, and they build it on a large scale,” he says. “We think the value in our company is the technology and the development pipeline and less an actual, physical product.”

GreenSTEM provides annual fellowship stipends (essentially salaries) as well as seed funding to cover technology and business development expenses. Additionally, the program provides technology-focused entrepreneurship programming, technical and business mentorship and networking opportunities with investors, venture capital organizations, service providers and potential industry partners.

“There’s a lot of biotech going on in southern Alberta and it’s growing much faster than most people realize,” adds Brandon. “This rapid increase in biotech and green energy technologies is where GreenSTEM can make such a big impact, and afford us an opportunity to contribute to that sector.”

The intake for the latest round of GreenSTEM has just opened. Expressions of interest are being accepted from Feb. 24 through Mar. 23. For more information, visit alberta.ca/greenstem.

Ethics of gene editing the focus of ARRTI Speaker Series free public presentation

trevor.kenney — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 22:57:31 +0000

The explosive issue of gene editing and the ethical questions surrounding this emerging technique will serve as the focus for the first Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) Speaker Series talk of 2020.

The ethics of gene editing is a particular concern for members of ARRTI since the most powerful techniques currently available are based on RNA technologies.

Dr. Eric Mathison, clinical ethicist with Alberta Health Services, will present The Ethics of Human Gene Editing: Pathways and Roadblocks on Tuesday, January 21 at 3 p.m. in room SA6010 of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s new Science Commons building.

The ethical issue of gene editing grabbed headlines in 2018 when it was announced that Dr. He Jiankui had edited the genes of twin baby girls conceived in vitro.

“It’s an urgent discussion for scientists, ethicists and society at large,” says the U of L’s Dr. Marc Roussel, a professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and member of ARRTI. “The development of tools for gene editing has outstripped regulatory frameworks and, to a great extent, discussions of the ethics of deploying these techniques to alter human embryos.”

Mathison’s presentation is from research he conducted as a postdoctoral fellow at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He will survey the current debate about the ethics of gene editing and discuss an ethically sound pathway for translation of these techniques to the clinic.

Roussel says the ethics of gene editing is a particular concern for members of ARRTI since the most powerful techniques currently available are based on RNA technologies.

“ARRTI has a long-standing commitment to the education of well-rounded students who will be equipped both to solve challenging scientific problems, and to engage with the difficult ethical questions that will arise throughout their careers,” he says. “We are therefore very pleased to host Dr. Mathison’s timely and important presentation, which we hope will stimulate a broader discussion both within the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and in the community.”

All members of the community are welcome to attend.

The ARRTI Speaker Series is sponsored by the RNA Society and by Lexogen.

Leading cancer researcher, Dr. Gregg Morin, to speak as part of ARRTI Speaker Series

trevor.kenney — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 22:21:34 +0000

One of Canada’s leading cancer researchers will speak at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge this week as part of the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) Speaker Series.

Dr. Gregg Morin, the Head of Proteomics at Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver, B.C., will present Chemo-proteogenomic analyses of CDK12’s role in mRNA processing on Wednesday, December 5 at 2:30 p.m. in room C610 in ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall at the U of L. The talk is open to the public.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Canada. However, since 1988, cancer death rates have decreased by 32 per cent in men and 17 per cent in women (Canadian Cancer Statistics 2018). This is due, in part, to the endless research being done worldwide into understanding how cancers form and spread, and how they can be treated.

Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver uses genomic and bioinformatics approaches to advance knowledge about cancer. Morin has a long-standing connection to ARRTI, having attended the national RiboWest Conferences hosted by ARRTI and the U of L on numerous occasions.

“Dr. Morin’s research directly links our understanding of RNAs and proteins to the dysregulation of gene expression in cancer,” says the U of L’s Dr. Ute Kothe. “We are looking forward to not only discussing our joint research interests with Dr. Morin, but also how we can address the pressing questions in cancer research together.”

Since the early 1990s, cancer researchers have focused on the source of most cancers, mutations in the DNA that makes up our genome. These genetic mutations can be carried forward through cellular processes to mutations in ribonucleic acid (RNA) that can then cause aberrations in regulatory processes or the production of mutated proteins. Morin’s research program focuses on understanding the functional mechanisms of proteins and RNAs that are either mutated or differently expressed in cancer cells.

Morin has been the Head of Proteomics at the Genome Sciences Centre since 2004, as well as an associate professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

ARRTI has been holding the ARRTI Speaker Series since 2014, in which researchers, both local and external, are invited to speak about their current research in RNA and related topics. This year, in recognition of its influence, the ARRTI Speaker Series is sponsored by the International RNA Society as part of its RNA Salon initiative to promote RNA-related research.

For more information about Morin and the Genome Sciences Centre, the hosting Kothe lab or ARRTI, visit these websites:

http://www.bcgsc.ca/faculty/gmorin
http://scholar.ulethbridge.ca/kothe/home
www.uleth.ca/research/ARRTI

ARRTI Speaker Series welcomes Dr. Nils Walter to campus

trevor.kenney — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 17:23:41 +0000

One of the pioneers in creating an understanding of how RNA is a major regulator in our cells, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Michigan’s Dr. Nils Walter, is the featured guest for the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) Speaker Series.

Walter comes to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge upon invitation by Dr. Ute Kothe, with whom he shares many research interests.

Dr. Nils Walter Walter comes to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge upon invitation by Dr. Ute Kothe, with whom he shares many research interests.

“I am excited to welcome Dr. Walter to the U of L and to exchange ideas about RNA research, student training and the importance of RNA research for our society,” says Kothe. “Through his visit, we can strengthen our connection between ARRTI and the Center for RNA Biomedicine at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Michigan.”

Walter will present Single Molecules Come into Focus: Understanding RNA-Driven Regulation from First Principles on Monday, November 26 at 3 p.m. in room L1060 at the U of L library. The talk is open to the public.

Walter’s lab uses tools from chemical biology, analytical chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and bioinformatics to define and unleash the powers of RNA biology and DNA nanotechnology. This interdisciplinary approach is very similar to that taken by ARRTI.

Compared to proteins, a much larger proportion of our genome encodes RNAs, which play a much more important function in health and disease than previously thought. Walter has been a leader in understanding non-coding RNAs, investigating the functions of RNAs from the molecular to the cellular level. In particular, he has been a leader in understanding bacterial RNAs that constitute promising targets for new antimicrobial drugs. Given the quickly increasing problem of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections causing millions of deaths around the world, Walter’s research is thus tackling a hugely important problem.

Walter has been at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Michigan since 1999, and is now a Francis S. Collins Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, Biophysics and Biological Chemistry. He is also the Founding Director of the Single Molecule Analysis in Real-Time (SMART) Center and the Founding Co-director of the Center for RNA Biomedicine, both at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Michigan.

For more information about Walter, the Center for RNA Biomedicine, ARRTI or the hosting Kothe lab, visit these websites:

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/walter-lab/
https://www.umichrna.org/
www.uleth.ca/research/ARRTI
http://scholar.ulethbridge.ca/kothe/home

ARRTI Speaker Series features ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary cancer researcher discussing DNA repair

trevor.kenney — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 17:30:42 +0000

Cancer is a major global health issue. Nearly one in two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, and one in four will die from the disease. Accordingly, it is of the utmost importance to research the underlying causes and mechanisms of this disease.

Deoxyribose nucleic acid, more commonly known as DNA, is the key biomolecule that acts as the hereditary material in almost all organisms. DNA carries the information that is passed onto offspring and is critical for the survival of an individual. Errors can be introduced into DNA due to endogenous processes, such as DNA replication, or following DNA damage from exposure to chemicals and other environmental factors, such as ultraviolet radiation. These errors can lead to severe problems, such as cancers and other hereditary diseases.

On Tuesday, August 21, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary’s Dr. Gareth Williams will present his work as part of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) Speaker Series. His research is focussed on understanding how our proteins protect against cancer by acting as nano-machines to repair DNA damage caused by endogenous metabolism or exposure to environmental factors.

Williams is a new investigator who started his laboratory investigating the structural biology of DNA repair at the U of C in 2016. He is a member of the Robson DNA Science Centre in the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, and the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology department. Williams is originally from the U.K., where he did his PhD in X-ray crystallography at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of St. Andrews under the supervision of Dr. James Naismith, and his undergraduate degree at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Nottingham.

His talk, Biochemical and structural basis for how the human RAD51 paralogs promote homologous recombination repair, will take place Tuesday, August 21 at 10:30 a.m. in room B650 (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall) at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and is open to the public.

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