In order to expand the clinical reach and impact of oligonucleotide-based therapeutics, it is crucial to address outstanding challenges in effective and targeted delivery. To overcome biological barriers, such as endosomal escape and tissue-specific targeting, researchers are exploring a range of innovative strategies, including lipid, polymer, and peptide-based nanoparticles, targeted delivery systems, and novel chemistries.
Nucleic Acid Insights has assembled a panel of leading experts in the oligonucleotide space who will explore the latest approaches aimed at improving the safety, efficacy, and precision of oligonucleotide therapeutics.
The panel will discuss the advantages and drawbacks of both established and newer delivery vehicles, the issue of extrahepatic delivery, and highlight how AI/ML tools are impacting the field.
Attend the webinar to:
- Gain insights into new and emerging oligonucleotide delivery strategies to overcome key biological barriers, such as endosomal escape and tissue-specific targeting
- Understand the advantages and limitations of delivery systems, and how emerging technologies are expanding delivery beyond the liver
- Learn about the latest innovations in chemical modification to achieve enhanced specificity of oligonucleotide delivery
Steven Dowdy
Professor at UCSD School of Medicine
Steven F. Dowdy is a Professor of Cellular & Molecular Medicine at UCSD School of Medicine. He received his PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of California Irvine with Prof. Eric Stanbridge and was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Bob Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute, MIT. His work over the last 10+ years has focused on developing new chemistry to tackle the rate-limiting endosomal escape problem that plagues intracellular delivery of all macromolecular therapeutics, especially RNAs. Dr. Dowdy has been advising biotech and pharmaceutical companies for 35 years, currently sits on five biotech science advisory boards, and is co-founder of Clear Skies Bio, which is focused on RNA delivery. He was an elected board member of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society (OTS) (2015-2021) and sits on the OTS science advisory board.
James Dahlman
Associate Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology
James Dahlman is Chief Scientific Officer at Readout Capital and the McCamish Early Career Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory School of Medicine. His lab works at the interface of chemical engineering, genomics, and gene editing by applying big data approaches to nanomedicine. The lab is known for developing DNA barcoded nanoparticles to measure how hundreds of nanoparticles deliver mRNA and siRNA in multiple cell types from a single animal in vivo. The lab uses these approaches to deliver RNA outside the liver.
James was a co-founder and Board Chairman of Guide Therapeutics, which was acquired by Beam Therapeutics. His trainees have become investors, started several companies, and work in some of the most cutting-edge organizations in RNA therapeutics. James received his Ph.D. in 2015 from the Harvard-MIT HST Program, where he studied with Robert Langer, and as a post-doc, studied CRISPR-Cas9 with Feng Zhang.
Kehinde Ross
Associate Professor at Liverpool John Moores University
Kehinde Ross is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). He earned his PhD from the University of Sheffield, where he studied cytokine signalling proteins associated with inflammatory diseases. After postdoctoral training at Newcastle University, he started independent research related to microRNA (miRNA) expression and function at LJMU. His initial focus on skin has expanded to include studies of miRNA modulation in cancer, given that dysregulation of miRNA has been linked to various aspects of the disease. His current focus is the development of interdisciplinary collaborations to support the generation of nanocarriers for miRNA-directed therapy in cancer and other conditions. Kehinde leads the Transformative Peptide Chemistry for RNA Nanotherapies Thematic Doctoral Pathway program at LJMU, one of the inaugural cohort-based PhD training schemes in the university.
