Winners of 2015

Fritz Eckstein, PhD

Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine

Dr. Eckstein received a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1960 at the University of Bonn in Germany. This was followed by a postdoctoral time at the University of Toronto for 2 years with Prof. H. Baer synthesising phosphatides. He then moved as a 1962/1963 postdoc to Harvard University with Prof. R. B. Woodward working on the synthesis of vitamin B 12. On returning to Germany he joined the Max-Planck-Institute for experimental medicine in Goettingen in the dept. of Prof. Cramer, subsequently as a group leader, and from 1972 on also as adjunct professor at the University of Goettingen. Read More

Frank Rigo, PhD

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Biography: In 2002, Frank completed his undergraduate studies in molecular biology and biochemistry at Marquette University. From 2002-2008, Frank earned his Ph.D. at UCLA in the Biochemistry Department under Harold Martinson. There, he dissected the mechanistic basis for how splicing and polyadenylation are interconnected with transcription. This was possible because he developed, for the first time, an in vitro system where pre-mRNA processing and transcription occurred at the same time and were functionally interconnected. Read More

Past Award Recipients:

Jana McCaskill, PhD

University of Edinburgh

Biography: Jana received her PhD in 2014, working with Nigel McMillan at the University of Queensland Diamantina Institute (Australia). Her doctoral work focused on the development and systemic liposomal delivery of respiratory syncytial virus and Hendra virus targeted siRNAs. Jana subsequently joined Amy Buck’s lab at the University of Edinburgh,Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution (UK) for postdoctoral studies investigating broad-spectrum host-targeted antiviral miRNAs for the treatment of respiratory viral infections. Read More

Past Scholarship Recipients:

The Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society offers Travel Grants for outstanding doctorate graduate students and post-docs. The grant includes a stipend to offset travel expenses for the OTS Annual Meeting.

Brian Adams, Yale University, US

Umar Burki, Newcastle University, UK

Giuseppina Covello, University of Trento, Italy

Petra Disterer, Royal Free Campus, UK

Cristina Fimiani Sissa, Cerebral Cortex Development Laboratory, Italy

Xavier Gerard Inserm, Imagine Institute, France

Saber Ghadakzadeh, Shriners Hospital for Children, Canada

Bethany Powell Gray, Duke University Medical Center, US

Ellen Gyssels, Ghent University, Belgium

Alberto Malerba, School of Biological Sciences, UK

Jana McCaskill, University of Edinburgh, UK

Tomoki Nomakuchi, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, US

Yifat Oren, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Israel

Maire F. Osborn, RNA Therapeutics Institute, UMass Medical School, US

Dina Polyak, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Sheena Saayman, The Scripps Research Institute, US

Mario Soldevilla, University of Navarra, Spain

Mayumi Takahashi, Beckman Research Institute, US

Anton Turanov, University of Massachusetts Medical School, US

Danielle Vlaho, McGill University, Canada

The Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society grants a number of Poster Awards to outstanding students and post docs presenting posters at the OTS Annual Meeting. The posters are judged onsite at the meeting and award winners are chosen based on exceptional and promising science as well as presentation of the data.

2015 Poster Award Winners

Umar Burki, Newcastle University –  Poster #009

In vivo Pharmacokinetic and Biodistribution profile of Peptide-Conjugated Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligonucleotides

Alexandre Debacker, University of Southampton – Poster #020

Optimized DNA-PNA chimeras for silencing structured RNAs

Anna Dysko, University of Oxford – Poster #026

Synthesis of Modified Oligonucleotides Containing Triazole Backbones

Ellen Gyssels, University of Ghent – Poster #046

Covalently Locking Nucleic Acid Structures by the Inducible

Furan Cross-link Strategy: New Applications

Marcel Hollenstein, University of Bern – Poster #050

General compatibility of nucleoside triphosphates with rolling circle

amplification

Satish Jadhav, University of Turku – Poster #056

Synthesis of Carbohydrates/Bisphosphonate-Oligonucleotide Conjugates and their PET Imaging

Silvana Jirka, Leiden University Medical Center – Poster #057

¬Evaluation of 2’- deoxy-2’-fluoro antisense oligonucleotides for exon skipping in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Yifat Oren, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences – Poster #089

Restoration of cftr Function by Antisense Oligonucleotide Splicing Modulation

Maire Osborn, RNA Therapeutics Institute, UMass Medical School – Poster #090

A polyunsaturated fatty acid-siRNA conjugate targeting Huntingtin (Htt) mRNA shows prolonged efficacy, minimal toxicity, and broad distribution in mouse brain

Dina Polyak, Sackler School of Medicine Tel Aviv University – Poster #099

Hindering tumor growth by polymer-based targeted delivery of oligonucleotides

Jurriën Prins, Leiden University Medical Center – Poster #101

Post-Transcriptional Guidance of Monocyte to Macrophage Differentiation by the RNA-Binding Protein Quaking

Lodewijk Toonen, Leiden University Medical Center – Poster #118

Ataxin-3 exon skipping as a treatment strategy for Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 3

Tirsa Van Westering, University of Oxford – Poster #127

Cmah-/-mdx mouse early onset cardiac phenotype and correction of dystrophin by peptide-PMO for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Ann Fiegen Durbin, Harvard University and MIT – Poster #144

Signal Interrupted: How RNAs containing modified nucleotides suppress RIG-I activation