7:30 Continental Breakfast Breakout Discussion Sessions  

Table 1
RNAi-based Functional Screens
Michael A. White, Ph.D., Professor, Cell Biology and Associate Director, Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Table 2
Overcoming the Challenges of RNAi Delivery
Moderator to be Announced

Table 3
Making RNAi Therapies a Reality
Bob Brown, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals

Table 4
HDAC Inhibitors: Challenges in the Clinic
Pamela N. Munster, M.D., Director Early Phase Clinical Trials, Associate Director of Experimental Therapeutics, UC San Francisco

  

RNAi SCREENS FOR PATHWAY ANALYSIS

8:30       Chairperson’s Remarks    

8:40       Kinase and Phosphatase RNAi for Quantitative Analysis of Molecular Pathways
Jeff MacKeigan, Ph.D., Scientific Investigator, Head, Laboratory of Systems Biology, Van Andel Research Institute
Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases (PI3Ks) phosphorylate the 3’ inositol ring position of phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) and phosphoinositides to generate lipid products important for signal transduction, membrane trafficking, and other cellular processes. The single human class III PI3K, hVps34, utilizes PtdIns as a substrate to generate majority of cellular phosphatidylinositol(3)phosphate (PI(3)P), which predominantly localizes to early endosomes and multivesicular bodies. As such, it regulates endosomal trafficking, largely through the recruitment of effector proteins, for example, early endosomal antigen 1 (EEA1). Aside from vesicular trafficking, roles for hVps34 and PI(3)P in amino acid sensing and signaling through the mTOR pathway as well as in macroautophagy have recently emerged. It is therefore critical to understand the mechanisms of PI(3)P regulation in order to better elucidate these cellular functions.

9:10       Towards Functional Annotation of the Cancer Genome
Michael A. White, Ph.D., Professor, Cell Biology and Associate Director, Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
We are employing array-based genome-scale siRNA libraries to facilitate a comprehensive analysis of the molecular pressure-points supporting tumorigenic transformation. Genome-Wide siRNA-Induced synthetic lethality across diverse genetic backgrounds and across multiple chemical perturbations is being used to define both common and lineage-specific loci required to support cancer cell regulatory networks.

9:40       Networking Coffee Break in the Exhibit Hall

10:40     A Systems Biology Approach to Dissecting the Topology of the Insulin Signaling Network
Norbert Perrimon, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
Our studies illustrate how we are combining RNA-Interference, Mass-Spectrometry, time course gene expression and phosphorylation profiling, and computational analyses to generate a comprehensive network of the Drosophila insulin signaling network.

 

EXECUTIVE FORUM

11:10     RNAi: How to Best Transition from the Lab to the Clinic
Moderator: Bob Brown, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals

 

 

Participants:

Thomas Singer D.A.B.T., Global Head  of Non-Clinical Safety, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG

 

 

 

Elena Feinstein, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Quark Pharmaceuticals Inc.

 

 

 

Steven C. Quay, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer, MDRNA Inc.

 

 

Tod Woolf, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, RXi Pharmaceuticals

 

 

Klaus Giese, Ph

 

 

 

Jason Smythe, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Benitec Ltd.

 

 

 

12:40 Luncheon Presentation  
Mimicing Human Disease States With RNAi
Christine Olsson, Commercialization Scientific Director, TaconicArtemis

 

 

1:25             Close of RNAi for Screening Conference