The Nebraska Lecture scheduled for November 17 will feature Dr. Angie Pannier, Swarts Family Chair of Biological Systems Engineering and professor of Biomedical Engineering. The lecture will be provided during Nebraska Research Days, virtually at 3:30, followed by a live moderated Q&A. Registration is required to receive a link.

Dr. Pannier will present the lecture titled “DNA and RNA Delivery: From Novel Therapies to Vaccines that End Pandemics.”

DNA and RNA are the genetic warehouses of our cells, responsible for storing our genome (DNA) and then transcribing that genome (RNA) into the molecules that control our life. Given we know the genomic sequence of humans and many pathogens, we have long sought to use that information as medicines and vaccines, that is to realize the idea of gene therapy. However, the field had a slow start and after 30 years only few gene therapy products were on the market. Then in 2020 everything changed with many of the approved vaccines for Sars-Cov2 using RNA or DNA delivery. Our laboratory has worked to understand and innovative DNA and RNA delivery, to develop methods to transfer those molecules more efficiently into human cells. This talk will describe the history of gene therapy, the events in 2020 that changed our field, and the future technologies that will revolutionize medical therapies.

Register to receive the webinar link: https://research.unl.edu/events/researchdays_nuramp.php?EMSEventUUID=c8b042e3-1284-4a19-8111-0ff7534be574