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Event
Ushering in the Era of Digital Drug Design with Spherical Nucleic Acids: A Presentation from Prof Chad Mirkin, the 2020 Harry and Carol Mosher Award
Title:
Ushering in the Era of Digital Drug Design with Spherical Nucleic Acids
Guest Speaker and 2020 Mosher Award winner:
Professor Chad Mirkin, Northwestern University
Abstract:
Over two decades ago, nucleic acid therapeutics emerged as a promising new technology for treating diseases with a known genetic basis. In addition, in recent years, nucleic acids have been identified as sequence-specific regulators of the immune system. However, issues pertaining to their stability, toxicity, and delivery have dramatically limited their application and thus slowed the growth of the field. Indeed, the vast majority of nucleic acid drugs that are currently being developed target diseases that can be addressed in the liver, the site where nucleic acids accumulate when systemically administered. We have discovered a new form of nucleic acids that can be actively internalized by most cell and tissue types, without the need for transfection agents, owing to their novel nanoscale architecture. These new forms of DNA and RNA, referred to as spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), are revolutionizing the way we study, track, and treat disease. SNAs are being used as potent gene regulation agents that can be topically delivered to the skin and cross the blood-brain-barrier to treat neurodegenerative conditions; they have also shown immense promise as advanced immunotherapeutics for cancer. This presentation will describe how SNAs are steering the community toward a whole new way of thinking about digital drug design.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Chad A. Mirkin is the Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology and the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and Medicine at Northwestern University. He is a chemist and a world-renowned nanoscience expert, who is known for his discovery and development of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) and SNA-based biodetection and therapeutic schemes, Dip-Pen Nanolithography (DPN) and related cantilever-free nanopatterning methodologies, On-Wire Lithography (OWL) and Co-Axial Lithography (COAL), and contributions to supramolecular chemistry and nanoparticle synthesis. Mirkin received his B.S. degree from Dickinson College (1986) and a Ph.D. degree from the Penn State University (1989). He was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT prior to becoming a professor at Northwestern University in 1991. He has authored over 760 manuscripts and over 1,100 patent applications worldwide (over 350 issued) and founded multiple companies, including AuraSense, Exicure, TERA-print, and Azul 3D. Mirkin has been recognized with over 210 international awards, including the Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine, the SCI Perkin Medal, the Wilhelm Exner Medal, the RUSNANOPRIZE, the Dan David Prize, and the Sackler Prize in Convergence Research. He served for eight years on the Presidents Council of Advisors on Science & Technology (Obama Administration), and he is one of very few scientists to be elected to all three US National Academies. Mirkin has served on the Editorial Advisory Boards of over 20 scholarly journals, and he is the founding editor of the journal Small. At present, he is an Associate Editor of JACS and a PNAS Board Member. Mirkins work in stereolithography (3-D printing) was a feature article in the 11/4/2019 issue of C&EN.
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LocationHoliday Inn South SF
275 S Airport Blvd
South San Francisco, CA 94080
United States
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| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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