RNA, or Ribonucleic acid, is a fundamental molecule that plays a crucial role in numerous biological processes. There are hundreds of thousands of these miniature molecules inside every cell. In recent years, advances in RNA research have led to significant breakthroughs in the fields of medicine and agriculture. In the last three years alone we’ve seen the impact that innovations in RNA can have on our health with the Covid vaccines, and that’s just the beginning.
Through short presentations and an engaging Q&A, discover the cutting-edge science of RNA research from top experts and its potential to revolutionize the fields of medicine and agriculture.
About the Speakers
Dr. Samantha Yammine is a neuroscientist and popular Science Communicator better known as Science Sam. She earned her PhD from the University of Toronto studying how stem cells build and maintain the brain, and then went on to found Science Sam Media, a science-based digital production agency.
She is passionate about empowering people to explore science by making it more familiar, accessible, and inclusive. Samantha is an innovative leader in creating factual content that stands out as @science.sam on Instagram and Tik Tok.
She has been a guest Science Correspondent for a variety of shows on Netflix, TVO Kids, CBC GEM, Discovery UK, CBC Radio, and AsapSCIENCE. She sits on the Board of Trustees for RCIScience and the anti-misinformation campaign ScienceUpFirst, and was named one of Toronto Life’s Top 50 Most Influential People in Toronto in 2021.
Dr. Julie Claycomb is interested in how genes are turned on and off by small RNAs, and how this contributes to the development and fertility of animals. She performed her PhD at MIT, studying DNA replication in Drosophila (Fruit flies) with Dr. Terry Orr-Weaver, and did her postdoctoral training with Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Craig Mello, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, studying small RNA pathways in the tiny worm, C. elegans. She joined the Dept. of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto as a Professor in 2011. Dr. Claycomb enjoys mentoring and uniting her research community. She has won several awards for mentoring innovations, serves on the Executive Committee of RNA Canada, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the RNA Society. Check out her lab here.
Dr. Cei Abreu-Goodger is currently a Reader in Bioinformatics at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. His research interests are focused on small RNAs and transposable elements, using a variety of host-pathogen models. Cei did his PhD in Mexico, studying the evolution of regulatory RNA in bacteria, a postdoc in Cambridge UK working on the function of microRNAs in vertebrates, and was a group leader in Mexico in a Plant Biodiversity department for ten years before moving to the University of Edinburgh.
Professor Amy Buck studies how small RNAs mediate gene regulation during immune responses and how pathogens take advantage of these mechanisms during infections. Amy earned her PhD in 2005 in Biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She joined the Division of Pathway Medicine and the Centre for Infectious Diseases at the University of Edinburgh in 2005. In 2009, she started her own lab within the Wellcome Trust funded Centre for Immunity, Infection & Evolution at the University of Edinburgh. Amy currently holds an ERC Consolidator Award for the study of RNA communication in helminth infections and is the Action Chair for European COST Network: RNA communication across kingdoms. Amy is co-Head of Institute for the Institute of Immunology & Infection Research and is proud to have sponsored and trained in her lab over 50 students and staff from over 20 countries. Check out her lab here.