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Event

D2R Research Symposium 2025

Thursday, March 13, 2025toFriday, March 14, 2025

Bringing the D2R community together!

About

In March 2025, D2R will hold it’s inaugural Research Symposium where it will bring more than 150 participants together to share and discuss the innovative research being conducted across the D2R Initiative. This event will provide a platform for researchers to network, learn about D2R-funded research, and share insights with peers from McGill and D2R partner institutions.

Over two days, attendees will hear from principal investigators about their D2R-funded research projects and Core Platforms, as well as from our industry partners. There will also be poster presentations from trainees working on D2R-funded projects. Visit our website for a list of D2R funded projects.

Agenda

Thursday March 13, 2025 (Day 1)

TIME	AGENDA ITEM
8:30-8:35am	Land acknowledgement & welcome from Vice-President, Research and Innovation Dominique Bérubé
8:35-8:55am	Welcome & overview of D2R Philippe Gros
8:55-9:00am	Event logistics & housekeeping Giovanna Sebastiani
9:00-10:10am	INTRODUCTION TO D2R PARTNERS Dominique Bérubé (session chair) *Sherbrooke the R-to-R base: From the beginning of the RNA binding protein group to the future RNA world,* Sherif Abou Elela, Université de Sherbrooke *Vancouver LNP mRNA initiatives: UBC’s NanoCore and the spin-off ecosystem,* Pieter Cullis, University of British Columbia *Quebec Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research,Treena Delormier* *D2R’s international partnerships, Mark Lathrop*
10:10-10:40am	Coffee break
10:40-11:15am	D2R RESEARCH: Translational impact research Philippe Gros (session chair) Scientific presentations to be announced at the event.
11:15-11:30am	D2R CORE PLATFORM: End to end sequencing platform for RNA therapeutics quality control Ioannis Ragoussis
11:30-11:45am	D2R INDUSTRY PARTNER: Leverage new Illumina multiomics assays to go beyond today’s genome Delphine Douillet, Illumina
12:00-1:00pm	Lunch & poster sessions
1:00-2:35pm	D2R RESEARCH: Bioprocessing, biomanufacturing, and nanotechnology Amine Kamen (session chair) *Intelligent screening for next generation LNP design and manufacturing, David Juncker* *Using synthetic biology approaches to develop novel RNA anti-cancer therapeutics, Taha Azad, Université de Sherbrooke* *pHREEDOM: A pH-Responsive probe to study endosomal escape for RNA delivery optimization and monitoring, Bin Zhao, University of British Columbia*
2:35-3:05pm	Coffee break & poster sessions
3:05-4:40pm	D2R RESEARCH: RNA therapeutics, part 1 Thomas Duchaine (session chair) *Live Imaging of mRNA 5′ cap Interaction with translation initiation factors, Maria Vera-Ugalde* *RNA splicing as an oncogenic factor and as a therapeutic target, Mathieu Quesnel Vallières, Université de Sherbrooke* *McGill brand mRNA production, Nathan Luedtke*
4:40-4:55pm	D2R CORE PLATFORM: Integrated McGill Infectious Disease Platforms Silvia Vidal
4:55-5:10pm	D2R INDUSTRY PARTNER: Predicting biology: From foundation models to AI platform Radu Dobrin, Deep Genomics
5:10-5:15pm	Closing Remarks Philippe Gros
5:15-7:30pm	Symposium Social

Friday March 14, 2025 (Day 2)

TIME	AGENDA ITEM
8:00-8:30am	Registration
8:30-8:35am	Opening remarks Philippe Gros
8:35-10:10am	D2R RESEARCH: RNA therapeutics, part 2 Maureen McKeague (session chair) *RNA-targeting therapeutics to address antimicrobial resistance,* Nicolas Moitessier *CRISPR-guided trans-splicing for RNA treatment of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy,* Guy Rouleau *Improving disease prognosis and treatment by elucidating pre-mRNA splicing dynamics,* Karine Choquet, Université de Sherbrooke
10:10-10:25am	D2R CORE PLATFORM: iCELL – Integrated Cytometry and Enhanced Learning Laboratories Jorg Fritz
10:25-10:40am	D2R INDUSTRY PARTNER: Next generation mRNA design - increasing mRNA potency Ben Hudson, TriLink BioTechnologies
10:40-11:10am	Coffee break
11:10am-12:25pm	THE APPLICATION OF EDI IN THE D2R COMMUNITY: We are all part of the solution *Landscape* *& The D2R EDI Action Plan: Key principles and on-going actions, Amélie Quesnel Vallée* *What do “Equity”, “Diversity”, and “Inclusion” mean for D2R – Part 1, Mariloue Daudier* *What do “Equity”, “Diversity”, and “Inclusion” mean for D2R – Part 2* Raquel Cuella Martin Lucienne Tritten Simon Gravel Q&A
12:25-1:30pm	Lunch & poster sessions
1:30-2:35pm	D2R RESEARCH: Data science, bioinformatics, and computing in personalized medicine Guillaume Bourque (session chair) *A citizen science platform for accelerating metagenomic studies in urban built environment, Jérôme Waldispül* Single-cell and spatial profiling of RNA splicing to understand tumour heterogeneity, Ioannis Ragoussis
2:35-2:50pm	D2R CORE PLATFORM: D2R - Health Data Science platform Mathieu Bourgey
2:50-3:10pm	D2R RESEARCH: Translational impact research Scientific presentation to be announced at the symposium.
3:10-3:25pm	D2R INDUSTRY PARTNER: Direct RNA sequencing - Uncover previously unseen biological insights Manuel Buscarlet, Oxford Nanopore Technologies Inc.
3:25-3:55pm	Coffee break & poster sessions
3:55-4:55pm	OPEN MIC WITH D2R’S SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP Vincent Mooser (session chair) Panelists: Philippe Gros Mark Lathrop Amélie Quesnel Vallée Nathan Luedtke
4:55-5:10pm	Poster awards Giovanna Sebastiani
5:10-5:15pm	Closing remarks Philippe Gros

Event program

Download the event program here, which include welcome messages from leadership, a detailed agenda, list of poster presentations, event sponsors and event sustainability

Registration

Registration is now closed, but don’t worry we’ll be sharing highlights from presentations and discussions throughout the day on March 13 and March 14 on D2R's social media. Be sure to follow #D2RSymposium2025 on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Bluesky to stay in the loop.

Event Sponsors

We would like to extend a special thank you to our event sponsors, Illumina, Moderna, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Biovectra, TriLink Biotechnologies, Deep Genomics, Admare, Charles River and Roche, whose support helps make this symposium possible.

d2r_symposium_sponsors

Event sustainability

D2R is committed to contributing to McGill’s goal of maintaining Platinum Sustainability across the university by embedding sustainability into the D2R office and activities. For our inaugural research symposium, we are delighted to announce that we have been awarded Silver Sustainable Event Certification by the McGill Sustainable Events program run by the McGill Office of Sustainability To learn more about McGill's Sustainability initiatives, visit: www.mcgill.ca/sustainability/

Contact Information

Email:

D2R.comms [at] mcgill.ca

Category:

Research

Last updated:

Thu, 03/06/2025 - 14:49

Source Site:

/dna-to-rna

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