Med platforms Matter: Emerging strategies for RNA therapeutics

With the continued rise of interdisciplinary approaches bridging life and physical sciences, researchers are using every toolkit available to tackle the most pressing health problems. Med and Matter recognize that not only are emerging in medical technologies being developed on innovative and advanced materials platforms, but biological materials themselves can be designed similarly to synthetic materials systems. Simply put, the underlying materials used for medicine matter. Recently, RNA has entered the forefront of emerging therapeutics, requiring new fundamental approaches to predictive modeling and design of RNA, RNA delivery platforms, and clinical use. Join us to hear about the latest advances from our excellent panel! Speakers: Giovanni Traverso is an assistant professor in the department of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and also a gastroenterologist with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School. His current research program is focused on developing the next generation of drug delivery systems to enable safe and efficient delivery of therapeutics, working on a biomedical device to support new modes of drug administration, and sensing a broad array of physiologic and pathophysiologic signals. Laura Sepp-Lorenzino, PhD joined Intellia Therapeutics in 2019 as chief scientific officer and is responsible for research and early development. Intellia’s leading CRISPR platform supports a full-spectrum therapeutic strategy. Laura previously held leadership positions at Vertex, Alnylam, and Merck. Dr. Ryan Flynn is an assistant professor at Boston Children’s Hospital in the Stem Cell Program and the department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University, where his lab is investigating the chemical nature and biological role of RNA glycosylation. Dr. Flynn has won multiple awards including the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Sontag Foundation, and the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award.