27 March 2012
1.30pm-2.20pm: Registration and Coffee
2.20pm: Welcome
Session 1: Chair Professor Dr Georg Sczakiel
2.30pm: Professor Kaz Taira
Title: Small RNAs and epigenetics
Professor, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba; The University of Tokyo; Tokyo University & Graduate School of Social Welfare; and Nagase & Co Ltd, Tokyo, Japan
3.00pm: Professor Dr Ben Berkhout (Keynote Presentation)
Director, Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Title: Optimization of antiviral RNAi molecules: A Dicer-independent shRNA processing route
3.45: Professor Dr Albrecht Piiper
Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Frankfurt/M, Germany
Title: MicroRNAs in blood serum as non-invasive biomarkers in chronic hepatitis C
4.15pm: Refreshment Break, Exhibitions and Posters
5.00pm: Dr Raymond Schiffelers
Assistant Professor, UMC Utretch, The Netherlands
Title: Identification of microRNA based therapeutic candidates using a unique lentiviral microRNA overexpression library
5.30pm: Dr Lorena Di Lisio
Pathology Service, Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla, and IFIMAV, Spain
Title: microRNAs in B-cell lymphomas
6.00pm: Dr Blanche Schroen
Assistant Professor, Center for Heart Failure Research, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Title: Role of microRNAs in ageing-associated cardiac remodeling
6.30pm: Dr Roy Edward
Biostatus Limited,
Shepshed, LEICS, UK
Title: Red/far-red fluorescing DNA-specific anthraquinones for nucl:cyto segmentation and viability reporting in cell-based assays
6.45pm: Close of Day 1
7.15pm: Buffet Dinner (by prior booking/invitation only)
28 March 2012
8.00am-8.25am: Registration
8.25am: Welcome
Session 2: Chair Professor Dr Miguel Piris
8.30am: Professor Dr Paul Holvoet
Head of Atherosclerosis and Metabolism Unit, Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Title: Interaction between oxidative stress and inflammation in obesity and atherosclerosis
9.00am Professor Dr Jens Brüning
Director, Department of Mouse Genetics and Metabolism, Institute for Genetics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, Germany Title: Role of miRNA expression in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
9.30am: Professor Nagy Habib
Director, HPB Clinical Services, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, GI Lead Clinician, and Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London, UK
Title: Stem cells in diabetes
10.00am: Refreshment Break, Exhibitions and Posters
11.00am: Dr Trevor Dale (Sponsored by Sigma Life Sciences)
Professor/Deputy Research Division Leader, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Title: Analysis of a Wnt signalling network using high throughput screening
11.30am: Dr Stephen Brown (Sponsored by Molecular Devices)
Head, RNAi Facility, The University of Sheffield, UK
Title: Lights, camera, action. Genome-wide RNAi screens using automated microscopy
12.00am: Dr Dmitry Samarsky
Executive Vice President, Technology and Business Development, RiboBio Co, China
Title: In vivo delivery of the oligonucleotide-based drugs
12.30pm: Group Photo, Lunch, Exhibitions, Posters, Technology Workshops
1.15pm-2.00pm: Technology Workshop by Molecular Devices
2.00pm-2.45pm: Technology Workshop by Sigma-Aldrich
Session 3: Chair Professor Kaz Taira
3.00pm: Dr Mark Behlke
Chief Scientist, IDTDNA, USA
Title: Non-base modifiers for anti-miRNA and other antisense applications
3.30pm: Professor Adrian Harris (Keynote Presentation)
Director of Oncology, CRUK at the University of Oxford, UK
Title: Prognostic and mechanistic roles of miRNAs in human breast cancer
4.15pm: Life-time Achievement Award Presentation to Professor Harris
4.30pm: Refreshment Break
5.00pm: Professor Dr Achim Aigner
Professor, Rudolf-Boehm-Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology Clinical Pharmacology, University of Leipzig, Germany
Title: RNAi-mediated knockdown of HER family members and RNAi double/triple knockdown strategies in ovarian cancer
5.20pm: Professor John Aplin
University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Title: Short-interfering RNA mediated knock-down of integrin αvβ3or its ligand osteopontin suppresses embryo-epithelial adhesion at implantation
5.35pm: Dr Karen Forbes
School of Biomedicine, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Title: IGF regulates miR-483-3p expression in the developing human placenta via an IGF1R/ERK pathway
5.50pm-7.15pm: Poster viewing, drinks reception and music (TBC)
7.30pm-9.00pm: Dinner (by prior booking/invitation only)
29 March 2012
Session 4: Chair Dr Mark Behlke
9.00am: Professor Andrew Miller
Professor, University College London, UK
Title: TBA
9.30pm: Dr Stephen Hart
Reader in Molecular Genetics, Wolfson Centre for Gene Therapy of Childhood Disease, UCL, UK
Title: Lipid-Peptide Nanocomplexes for the Targeted Delivery of siRNA
10.00am: Dr Muriel Golzio
Group Leader, Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Struscturale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
Title: siRNA electrotransfer into cancer cells
10.30am: Refreshment Break, Exhibitions
11.00am: Professor Dr Tobias Restle
Professor, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Universität zu Lübeck, Germany
Title: Minimal mechanistic model of guide RNA dependent target RNA slicing by recombinant human Argonaute2 protein
11.30: Dr Sterghios Moschos
Reader in Industrial Biotechnology, University of Westminster, UK
Title: Oligonucleotide inhalation: The liver is the target
12.00pm: Dr Tobias Poehlmann
Institute of Macromolar Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, Germany
Title: Development of peptide-blocked siRNA - a cell-specific toxin
12.20pm: Closing remarks and lunch
1.30pm: Close of conference
