RNA Travel Grant Program
The Institute for RNA Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania, CHOP, and Wistar seeks to support RNA biology research to enhance basic science, translational, and clinical studies.
Travel Grants support graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who wish to attend and/or present their research at scholarly meetings off campus and may be used to defray the cost of travel and fees.
Eligibility
- Applying graduate student or postdoctoral researcher must be mentored by a member of the Institute for RNA Innovation.
- Must be attending a major regional, national, or international conference.
- Must have travel authorization from their department prior to travel.
- Cannot have received a prior travel grant during the academic year.
- Cannot have received more than 2 prior travel grants during their tenure at Penn.
Budget
Grants may be awarded to graduate students or postdoctoral researchers who are attending and/or presenting a research paper or a poster, mentored by a faculty member, at a scholarly meeting in the field of RNA research. The Institute for RNA Innovation will provide grants of up to $1,000. Travel Grant awards may also be used for trainings, workshops, or courses in the field of RNA research. Funds may be used for registration fees, transportation, and lodging. Funding will not cover related books, materials, or meals.
Application Requirements and Procedures
Applications will be accepted year-round on a rolling basis. Applications must be submitted at least three weeks prior to the start of travel as a single PDF file.
Please label the file as ApplicantFullName_Travel_SubmissionDate.pdf and include the following materials:
- Complete a brief proposal (no more than 500 words) outlining the nature of the travel request, the level of participation, and need for funds. Applicant should also include up to 3 sentences describing professional goals.
- Letter of support from mentor.
After your submission is complete, you will receive a confirmation receipt by email.
Eligibility and appropriate travel support will be determined by the Institute for RNA Innovation. A committee will review the applications and inform selected applicants within two weeks of submission.
No more than 3 awards will be issued per mentor lab in each fiscal year.
Grant Recipient Reimbursement and Requirements
- Travel claims with receipts must be submitted within 15 days of a student or postdoctoral researcher’s return.
- Airfare must be booked in World Travel/Concur.
- Book AMTRAK directly on www.amtrak.com
- Your award letter will include details about reimbursement.
- Within 15 days of return, provide follow-up information regarding the impact of attendance on research, scholarship, or other professional developmental goals. This includes a short blurb about experience for the news section of the Institute for RNA Innovation website with picture (if available).
Questions?
Contact: Jill Agolino
Apply on-line here.
RNA Pilot Grant Program
Spring 2024
The Penn Institute for RNA Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania, CHOP, and Wistar seek to support RNA-related basic, translational and clinical research. Towards that goal, the Institute is requesting applications for its Pilot Grants Program for Spring 2024. Pilot funding will provide initial support to establish proof of concept or extend findings to enable extramural funding and publications in the future. Priority areas, deadlines, and application guidelines are provided below.
The Spring 2024 Pilot Grant Program research priority area will be to support cross-disciplinary research that will lead to extramurally funded research in either Basic or Translational Science in the arena of RNA biology. Projects should utilize at least one of the Institute for RNA Innovation shared resource Cores or incorporate expertise from the Leadership group. The following core resources are available: mRNA Core, LNP Core, Targeting Core, and High throughput screening of Therapeutics. Access to these cores will advance grantees’ capabilities in RNA-based technologies (e.g. in design, delivery and targeting).
We encourage applicants to consult with our Core Directors early in the preparation of their application. Allocation of Core effort to assist in grant preparation will be available on a first-come first-served basis. Brief descriptions of the Cores and additional resources being offered through select leadership labs can be found below.
Basic Science applications including RNA Processing, RNA Binding Proteins, Noncoding RNAs, and Nucleoside-modifications are encouraged along with the development of tools to further the use of RNA technology to treat disease. Translational Science including relevance to prevention, diagnostics, and therapeutics for human diseases will also be accepted. Applications that seek to take novel basic science findings towards clinical development are also desired. All aspects of RNA science and biology with translational application will be considered, including mRNA, siRNA, anti-sense oligonucleotides, splicing modulation, and RNA binding proteins. Projects and teams that bridge laboratory-based research to pre-clinical studies or models and/or that extend clinical observations to the laboratory (addressing mechanisms, identifying therapeutic targets, and developing novel interventions) are strongly encouraged to apply.
We hope you will consider this opportunity to creatively apply RNA-based approaches to new and exciting questions in your research.
Program Timeline
Application Due: March 15, 2024
Decisions/Results Communicated to Applicant: May 2024
Funding of Successful Applicants Begins no later than: June 2024
Eligibility
Principal Investigators (PIs) for awards must have a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or the Wistar Institute and hold the rank of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor, Research Professor, or Instructor. Postdoctoral trainees are also encouraged to apply, provided that a faculty sponsor includes a Letter of Support for the trainee in the application.
Proposals may not describe the same specific research that is funded by other sources during the grant period.
Budget and Duration
Individual applicants may request budgets up to $50,000 in direct costs and may propose projects lasting up to 12 months. Applicants are required to budget at least $10,000 of funds for Institute Core and/or Institute Collaboration expenses. An additional $5,000 can be requested for Core expenses with proper justification. The total equipment budget must not exceed $10,000.
| PENN INSTITUTE FOR RNA INNOVATION SPRING FY24 PILOT – DETAILED BUDGET (download) |
Application Requirements and Procedures
Full applications must be uploaded no later than March 15, 2024 as a single PDF file. Please label the file as PIFullName_PilotSpring2024.pdf and include the following materials:
- Cover Letter: A brief cover letter from the PI containing the title of the proposal and describing the value of the project and a statement that all collaborators listed on the application agree with the proposal.
- Abstract: A brief abstract of no more than 250 words.
- NIH Biosketch: An NIH format biosketch must be submitted for the PI and Co-Is.
- Proposal: The research proposal should be one single-spaced page with one-inch margins and should include the essential background information related to the project. Please use Arial size 11 font. References should be attached to your research proposal and will not count toward your page limit. Please provide a timeline of implementation to ensure meeting all milestones by the end of the funding period.
- Budget: Please use the template budget page and provide detailed expenses. Salary support for faculty is discouraged.
- Budget Justification: Please provide a short justification for all personnel, supplies, and equipment that will be expensed to this project. Please indicate the importance of this funding to the feasibility of your research proposal. Please indicate if any other funds are available to you for the proposed research.
Applications should be uploaded here. After your submission is complete, you will receive a confirmation receipt by email.
Eligibility and appropriate project support will be determined by the Institute for RNA Innovation. The application must have RNA-related research as its focus and currently not be funded by other sources.
Review Criteria
A peer review panel composed of faculty with a range of expertise will be responsible for award decisions, evaluating eligible applications competitively. The primary factors in award decisions will be the scientific merit of the proposed research and the long-term promise of the proposed research. No critiques will be provided to applicants; applicants will be informed with a review response of “Funded,” “Not funded” or “Not eligible.”
Grant Recipient Requirements
Copies of IACUC and IRB approvals will be required if an award is funded.
Those receiving a grant will be expected to become active members of the Institute for RNA Innovation research community. Both the PIs and those working on funded projects are expected to:
- Acknowledge Institute for RNA Innovation Support in publications. Any publications that are a direct result of this funding must reference: “Supported in part by the Institute for RNA Innovation of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.”
- Self-identify as a member of the Institute for RNA Innovation on all publications emanating from the work supported by this grant.
- Use awarded funds solely to support the RNA research described in their proposal.
- Provide a progress report 30 days after the end of funding.
- Contribute a presentation on research accomplishments at a future talk/symposium hosted by the Institute for RNA Innovation.
- Provide follow-up information regarding the long-term impact of the award(s) on your overall research program and funding.
Questions?
Contact: Jill Agolino
Shared Resource Cores
mRNA Core – contact: Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh, Ph.D.
Nucleoside-modified mRNA revolutionized the vaccine industry and is now being tested in multiple therapeutic indications. Variants of the canonical mRNA including self-amplifying, circular, and unmodified mRNA are being tested, and show promises depending on the application and/or indication.
The mission of the Engineered Messenger RNA (mRNA) Core of the Institute for RNA Innovation is to design and produce engineered mRNA molecules for improved expression, reduced immunogenicity, and longer half-life for therapeutic and vaccine applications. The mRNA Core produces all these reagents for research groups across the University of Pennsylvania, the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, and the Wistar Institute. The mRNA Core offers a wealth of expertise and resources including the design and production of mRNA, upscaling of mRNA production, fluorescent modifications, and analytical and characterization assay for both the mRNA and the lipid nanoparticles.
LNP Core – contact: Michael Mitchell, Ph.D.
Delivery technologies such as lipid nanoparticles (LNP) offer significant advantages over the delivery of free RNA for various RNA therapeutic, vaccine, and basic science applications. LNP technologies protect and prevent RNA degradation in the bloodstream, avoid renal clearance of RNA, enable cellular targeting through ligand functionalization and/or the tailoring of LNP physicochemical properties, and mediate cellular entry and endosomal escape to enable RNA release in the cytoplasm.
The mission of the Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) Core of the Institute for RNA Innovation is to design and implement novel LNP technologies for a range of RNA therapeutic, vaccine, and basic science applications for research groups across the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania. The LNP Core offers a wealth of expertise and resources including combinatorial chemistry of ionizable lipids and polymers, microfluidic technologies for LNP formulation, as well as LNP characterization and scaleup for RNA vaccine and therapeutic studies.
Targeting Core – contact: Vladimir Muzykantov, M.D., Ph.D.
The targeting Core provides specialized in-depth consulting services, interactive advising, access to the reagents/equipment/methodology, and hands-on experimental help in the efforts of interested investigators pursuing site-specific delivery, cell-specific localization, and processing of the diverse therapeutic cargoes including but not limited to RNA. Targeted Drug Delivery Systems (DDSs) can include but are not limited to LNPs, liposomes, polymeric carriers, and blood cells. Units focus on targeting to immune cells (lymphocytes, stem cells, antigen presenting cells, etc.), endothelial cells, and blood cells as targets for the cardiovascular, pulmonary, CNS, spleen, and other targets. Comprehensive analysis of the produced targeted DDSs, including size, PDI, charge, stability, surface density and steric freedom of ligands on the DDS surface, avidity and specificity of binding to the target cells, uptake and effect, in diverse in vitro and in vivo studies.
High-throughput Screening Core (Affiliated Core) – contact: Sara Cherry, Ph.D.
The mission of the HTSC within the Institute for RNA Innovation is to design and implement miniaturized assays to expand and develop RNA therapeutics and better vaccines. We can also facilitate a better understanding of basic RNA biology across the University of Pennsylvania, the Children’s Hospital, and the Wistar Institute. The Core offers a wealth of expertise and resources including libraries of small molecules, genetic tools, robotics, and assay readers to explore both well-based and cell-based read-outs.
Leadership Expertise
Anguera Expertise – contact: Montserrat Anguera, Ph.D.
Montserrat Anguera’s laboratory focuses on genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of the X chromosome which contribute towards sex-biased immune responses and autoimmune diseases. Her lab can support the design of proposals investigating long noncoding RNAs such as XIST RNA, and also proposals that investigate sex differences with biological questions.
Barash Expertise – contact: Yoseph Barash, Ph.D.
The Barash lab focuses on computational modeling of RNA processing and the effect of genetic variants. Lab expertise include analyzing RNA sequencing data for splicing and APA detection and quantification, CLIP analysis, machine/deep learning models for predicting RNA splicing, sQTL, PheWAS, G-Quads and uORF detections/predictions.
Cherry Expertise – contact: Sara Cherry, Ph.D.
The Cherry laboratory is interested in emerging and globally important RNA viruses including arthropod-borne viruses and coronaviruses. The lab is interested in how these viruses are able to hijack cellular factors and evade immune recognition using only a small number of proteins. The Lab uses chemical and genetic screening technologies to perform a wide array of cell-based screens to identify antivirals and new therapeutic targets.
Liu Expertise – contact: Kathy Fange Liu, Ph.D.
Kathy Fange Liu’s laboratory delves into the intricate workings of RNA, specifically focusing on how enzymes modify and process it to regulate translation. Their expertise extends to offering a range of advanced techniques, including mass spectrometry for quantifying RNA modifications, enzymology studies to dissect enzyme function, and probing protein-RNA interactions at in vitro and cellular levels.
Lynch Expertise – contact: Kristen Lynch, Ph.D.
The Lynch laboratory studies the mechanisms of RNA processing in immune responses. Her group can assist with biochemical studies of RNA-protein interactions and the experimental quantification and characterization of alternative mRNA splicing, 3’ UTR processing and mRNA decay.
Pardi Expertise – contact: Norbert Pardi, Ph.D.
Norbert Pardi’s laboratory has extensive experience (over 10 years, ~60 published research papers) with mRNA optimization and design for mRNA vaccines and/or therapeutics.
Rivella Expertise – contact: Stefano Rivella, Ph.D.
Stefano Rivella’s laboratory focuses on translational approaches, mainly targeting HSCs and developing curative approaches for benign hematological disorders and iron/anemia-related diseases. His laboratory can support the design of proposals that require RNA-LNP delivery.
Tian Expertise – contact: Bin Tian, Ph.D.
Bin Tian’s laboratory focuses on gene expression regulation through transcriptional termination by using small molecules, antisense oligos, and CRISPR tools. In addition, the laboratory supports engineering of the 3’ untranslated region of mRNA for optimized temporal and spatial controls of protein expression.
Tolbert Expertise – contact: Blanton Tolbert, Ph.D.
The Tolbert laboratory has extensive experience in characterizing the structural dynamics of RNA, RNA-protein, and RNA-small molecule complexes. The group endeavors to understand the underlying mechanisms by which viral 5’UTRs and cellular non-coding RNAs direct assembly of functional complexes to modulate gene expression. The lab uses biophysical methods, primarily NMR spectroscopy, x-ray crystallography, SAXS, calorimetry and molecular dynamics simulations to reveal foundational principles of RNA interactions.
RNA Pilot Grant Program
Fall 2023 DEADLINE EXPIRED
The Penn Institute for RNA Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania, CHOP, and Wistar seeks to support RNA-related basic, translational and clinical research. Towards that goal, the Institute is requesting applications for its Pilot Grants Program for Fall 2023. Pilot funding will provide initial support to establish proof of concept. Priority areas, deadlines, and application guidelines are provided below.
The Fall 2023 Pilot Grant Program research priority area will be Translational Science with relevance to prevention, diagnostics, and therapeutics for human diseases. Applications that seek to take novel basic science findings towards clinical development are also desired. All aspects of RNA science and biology with translational application will be considered, including mRNA, siRNA, anti-sense oligonucleotides, splicing modulation, and RNA binding proteins. Projects and teams that bridge laboratory-based research to pre-clinical studies or models and/or that extend clinical observations to the laboratory (addressing mechanisms, identifying therapeutic targets, and developing novel interventions) are strongly encouraged to apply.
Funding priority will be given to collaborative groups that cross disciplines and/or draw on advances in RNA-based technologies (e.g. in design, delivery and targeting) that the Institute for RNA Innovation is fostering through its shared resource Cores (mRNA Core, LNP Core, Targeting Core, High throughput screening of Therapeutics).
We hope you will consider this opportunity to creatively apply RNA-based approaches to new and exciting questions in your research.
Program Timeline
Application Due: September 22, 2023
Decisions/Results Communicated to Applicant: End of October, 2023
Funding of Successful Applicants Begins: November 1, 2023
Eligibility
Principal Investigators (PIs) for awards must have a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or the Wistar Institute and hold the rank of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor, Research Professor, or Instructor. Postdoctoral trainees are also encouraged to apply, provided that a faculty sponsor includes a Letter of Support for the trainee in the application.
Proposals may not describe the same specific research that is funded by other sources during the grant period.
Budget and Duration
Individual applicants may request budgets up to $50,000 in direct costs and may propose projects lasting up to 12 months. The total equipment budget must not exceed $10,000.
| PENN INSTITUTE FOR RNA INNOVATION FALL FY24 PILOT – DETAILED BUDGET (download) |
Application Requirements and Procedures
Full applications must be uploaded no later than September 22, 2023 as a single PDF file. Please label the file as PIFullName_PilotFall2023.pdf and include the following materials:
- Cover Letter: A brief cover letter from the PI containing the title of the proposal and describing the value of the project and a statement that all collaborators listed on the application agree with the proposal.
- Abstract: A brief abstract of no more than 250 words.
- NIH Biosketch: An NIH format biosketch must be submitted for the PI and Co-Is.
- Proposal: The research proposal should be one single-spaced page with one-inch margins and should include the essential background information related to the project. Please use Arial size 11 font. References should be attached to your research proposal and will not count toward your page limit. Please provide a timeline of implementation to ensure meeting all milestones by the end of the funding period.
- Budget: Please use the template budget page and provide detailed expenses. Salary support for faculty is discouraged.
- Budget Justification: Please provide a short justification for all personnel, supplies, and equipment that will be expensed to this project. Please indicate the importance of this funding to the feasibility of your research proposal. Please indicate if any other funds are available to you for the proposed research.
Applications should be uploaded below. After your submission is complete, you will receive a confirmation receipt by email.
Eligibility and appropriate project support will be determined by the Institute for RNA Innovation. The application must have RNA-related research as its focus and currently not be funded by other sources.
Review Criteria
A peer review panel composed of faculty with a range of expertise will be responsible for award decisions, evaluating eligible applications competitively. The primary factors in award decisions will be the scientific merit of the proposed research and the long-term promise of the proposed research. No critiques will be provided to applicants; applicants will be informed with a review response of “Funded,” “Not funded” or “Not eligible.”
Grant Recipient Requirements
Copies of IACUC and IRB approvals will be required if an award is funded.
Those receiving a grant will be expected to become active members of the Institute for RNA Innovation research community. Both the PIs and those working on funded projects are expected to:
- Acknowledge Institute for RNA Innovation Support in publications. Any publications that are a direct result of this funding must reference: “Supported in part by the Institute for RNA Innovation of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.”
- Self-identify as a member of the Institute for RNA Innovation on all publications emanating from the work supported by this grant.
- Use awarded funds solely to support the RNA research described in their proposal.
- Provide a progress report 30 days after the end of funding.
- Contribute a presentation on research accomplishments at a future talk/symposium hosted by the Institute for RNA Innovation.
- Provide follow-up information regarding the long-term impact of the award(s) on your overall research program and funding.
Questions?
Contact: Jill Agolino
| Awarded | PI | Title | School | Department | Co-PI(s) | Project Title |
| Fall 2023 | ||||||
| 1 | Jilian Melamed, PhD (Sponsor: Drew Weissman, MD, PhD) | Postdoctoral Fellow | Perelman School of Medicine | Medicine – Infectious Disease | “A novel mRNA tolerizing therapy for type 1 diabetes” | |
| 2 | Jia Nong, PhD (Sponsor: Vladimir R. Muzykantov, MD, PhD) | Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Perelman School of Medicine | Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics |
“Targeted lipid nanoparticles to modulate blood-brain barrier transcytosis in acute ischemic stroke” | |
| 3 | Elizabeth Hennessy, PhD | Senior Research Investigator | Perelman School of Medicine | Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics |
Vladimir Shuvaev, MD, PhD and Garret FitzGerald, MD | “Using endothelial cell targeted LNPs to silence anti-nflammatory long non-coding RNA with antisense oligonucleotides” |
| 4 | Donna Huryn, PhD, ACSF | Professor | School Arts & Sciences | Chemistry | Tejvir S. Khurana, PhD and David Schultz, PhD | “Development of small molecule utrophin up-regulators for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)” |
| 5 | Laurence Eisenlohr, VMD, PhD | Professor | Perelman School of Medicine/CHOP | Pathology and Laboratory Medicine | Julia Rood, MD, PhD | “Basis for mRNA Vaccine Activation of CD4+ T Cells” |
| 6 | Kahlilia Mossis-Blanco, PhD | Presidential Assistant Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Cell and Developmental Biology & Neurology | Jake Brenner, MD, PhD | “Efficacy and mechanisms of lncRNA delivery to the brain after stroke via lipid nanoparticles” |
| 7 | Andrew Tsourkas, PhD | Professor and Undergraduate Chair | School of Engineering and Applied Science | Bioengineering | Vladimir R. Muzykantov, MD, PhD | “Universal strategy for facile preparation of site-specifically conjugated antibody-targeted lipid nanoparticles” |
| 8 | Martin Carroll, MD | Associate Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Medicine – Hematology and Oncology | “Develop a novel nucleic acid delivery system that circumvents the general complications with pharmacological inhibitors to target DYRK1A as a therapeutic tool for B-ALL therapy” | |
| 9 | Ivan Dmochowski, PhD | Alan MacDiarmid Term Professor | School Arts & Sciences | Chemistry | “Development of Novel Duplex Chaperone RNA Oligonucleotides for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) Therapeutics” | |
| 10 | Christoph Ellebrecht, MD | Assistant Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Dermatology | “Modulating Asymmetric Cell Division of Human CAR T Cells through mRNA Delivery” |
RNA Pilot Grant Program
Spring 2023 DEADLINE EXPIRED
The Institute for RNA Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania, CHOP, and Wistar seeks to support RNA biology research to enhance basic science, translational, and clinical studies. Towards that goal, the Institute for RNA Innovation requests applications for the Pilot Grant Programs available for Spring 2023. Pilot Grant Program description, deadlines, and application guidelines are provided below. We hope applicants will apply RNA-based approaches creatively to address new and exciting questions.
The Spring 2023 Pilot Grant Program research priority area will be Basic Science, including RNA Processing, RNA Binding Proteins, Noncoding RNAs, and Nucleoside-modifications. A second Pilot Grant Program will address translational science in the fall.
Funding priority will be given to collaborative groups that cross disciplines.
Program Timeline
| Application Due: | February 15, 2023 |
| Decisions/Results Communicated to Applicant: | April 12, 2023 |
| Funding of Successful Applicants Begins: | May 1, 2023 |
Eligibility
Principal Investigators (PIs) for awards must have a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or the Wistar Institute and hold the rank of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor, Research Professor, or Instructor. Postdoctoral trainees are also encouraged to apply, provided that a faculty sponsor includes a Letter of Support for the trainee in the application.
Proposals may not describe the same specific research that is funded by other sources during the grant period.
Budget and Duration
Individual applicants may request budgets up to $50,000 in direct costs and may propose projects lasting up to 12 months. The total equipment budget must not exceed $10,000.
| PENN INSTITUTE FOR RNA INNOVATION SPRING FY23 PILOT – DETAILED BUDGET (download) |
Application Requirements and Procedures
Full applications must be submitted no later than February 15, 2023 as a single PDF file. Please label the file as PIFullName.PilotSpring2023.pdf and include the following materials:
- Cover Letter: A brief cover letter from the PI containing the title of the proposal and describing the value of the project and a statement that all collaborators listed on the application agree with the proposal.
- Abstract: A brief abstract of no more than 250 words.
- NIH Biosketch: An NIH format biosketch must be submitted for the PI and Co-Is.
- Proposal: The research proposal should be one single-spaced page with one-inch margins and should include the essential background information related to the project. Please use Arial size 11 font. References should be attached to your research proposal and will not count toward your page limit. Please provide a timeline of implementation to ensure meeting all milestones by the end of the funding period.
- Budget: Please use the attached budget page and provide detailed expenses. Salary support for faculty is discouraged.
- Budget Justification: Please provide a short justification for all personnel, supplies, and equipment that will be expensed to this project. Please indicate the importance of this funding to the feasibility of your research proposal. Please indicate if any other funds are available to you for the proposed research.
Applications should be emailed to: Jill Agolino. After your submission is complete, you will receive a confirmation receipt by email.
Eligibility and appropriate project support will be determined by the Institute for RNA Innovation. The application must have RNA-related research as its focus and currently not be funded by other sources.
Review Criteria
A peer review panel composed of faculty with a range of expertise will be responsible for award decisions, evaluating eligible applications competitively. The primary factors in award decisions will be the scientific merit of the proposed research and the long-term promise of the proposed research. No critiques will be provided to applicants; applicants will be informed with a review response of “Funded,” “Not funded” or “Not eligible.”
Grant Recipient Requirements
Copies of IACUC and IRB approvals will be required if an award is funded.
Those receiving a grant will be expected to become active members of the Institute for RNA Innovation research community. Both the PIs and those working on funded projects are expected to:
- Acknowledge Institute for RNA Innovation Support in publications. Any publications that are a direct result of this funding must reference: “Supported in part by the Institute for RNA Innovation of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.”
- Self-identify as a member of the Institute for RNA Innovation on all publications emanating from the work supported by this grant.
- Use awarded funds solely to support the RNA research described in their proposal.
- Provide a progress report 30 days after the end of funding.
- Contribute a presentation on research accomplishments at a future talk/symposium hosted by the Institute for RNA Innovation.
- Provide follow-up information regarding the long-term impact of the award(s) on your overall research program and funding.
Questions?
Contact: Jill Agolino
| Awarded | PI | Title | School | Department | Co-PI(s) | Project Title |
| Spring 2023 | ||||||
| 1 | Ravi Amaravadi, MD | Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Abramson Cancer Center | “Lysosomal inhibition to enhance RNA expression efficiency from RNA-LNPs” | |
| 2 | Susan Weiss, PhD | Professor and Vice Chair | Perelman School of Medicine | Microbiology | “Identification of RNA-binding region of coronavirus non-structural protein (nsp)1 and its influence on protein translation” | |
| 3 | Elizabeth A Heller, PhD | Assistant Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics |
“Chromatin mediated alternative splicing” | |
| 4 | Hongjun Sun, PhD | Perelman Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Neuroscience & Cell and Developmental Biology | Kathy Liu, PhD | “Role of m6A on mRNA local translation at synapses in the mouse hippocampus” |
| 5 | Taku Kambayashi, MD, PhD | Associate Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Pathology and Laboratory Medicine | Colin Conine, PhD | “The role of oocyte RNA in microbiome-induced transgenerational epigenetic inheritance” |
| 6 | Chin Nien Lee, PhD (Sponsor: Yanxiang Deng, Ph.D.) | Postdoctoral Researcher | Perelman School of Medicine | Pathology and Laboratory Medicine | “Spatial co-profiling of miRNAs, mRNAs, and accessible chromatin in MS lesion” | |
| 7 | Michael Abt, PhD | Assistant Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Microbiology | “Therapeutic delivery of IL-10 to promote microbiometransplantation succes” | |
| 8 | Juan Alvarez, PhD | Assistant Professor | Perelman School of Medicine | Cell and Developmental Biology | “RNA processing control of human islet maturation by MBLN1” |