Benoit Gentil Receives Commercialization Priming Award for RNA Research

The DNA to RNA Initiative (D2R) at McGill University has awarded $400,000 to four projects that aim to bring RNA-based innovations closer to clinical and commercial reality, including vaccines and therapies for rare and infectious diseases.

D2R’s commercialization programs seek to bridge research and real-world impact by funding early validation and industry collaborations. The Commercialization Priming program, in partnership with Genome Quebec, supports early testing of promising ideas, while the Major Partnerships program helps researchers collaborate with industry to advance technologies toward market readiness.

As part of this funding initiative, Dr. Benoit Gentil (Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education) will be receiving a Commercialization Priming Award for his research:

• Collaboration with QurCan Therapeutics to develop an RNA therapy to treat a genetic brain disease.

Researchers at McGill University are collaborating with QurCan Therapeutics to develop a new RNA-based treatment for a rare neurodegenerative disorder. This project utilizes nanoparticles developed by QurCan Therapeutics that are designed to cross the blood-brain barrier.