RNA Institute News

Speakers: Serene Durham (RNA Institute) and Ute Kothe (University of Lethbridge)

Date: February 16th, 2021 @4:00pm. Zoom Virtual Meeting (details will be sent out). Speakers: Haley Caldwell, RNA Fellow (Mentor: Alexander Ciota) and David Tollervey, Welcome Center Cell Biology

This year the RNA Institute’s Undergraduate Summer Fellowship looks a little different. Traditionally, students from the capital region and beyond flocked to the Institute’s advanced labs to conduct hands-on research side by side with some of the region’s top researchers. Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted this educational opportunity, like so many other aspects of society. Rather than cancel the program, the Institute’s staff and faculty, under the direction of Dr. Andy Berglund, jumped in to embrace the new normal of social distancing by going completely virtual.

Seed Grant Funding Awards - Dr. Alex Valm

ALBANY, N.Y. - The RNA Institute has been awarded seed funding from The Marigold Foundation to help develop a Center for Myotonic Dystrophy. It will serve as a hub for academic, clinical and industrial collaborative partnerships to increase research, educational and clinical opportunities in myotonic dystrophy (DM).

The current COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a major collaboration between researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical University led by Dr. Frank Middleton and The RNA Institute at the University at Albany – SUNY, led by Dr. Andrew Berglund. Combining the clinical and diagnostic expertise at Upstate with the research experts at the RNA Institute, the two groups seek to address fundamental questions about the disease including: How does the disease spread amongst newly-diagnosed cases? Are some patients resistant to infection? How are New York State residents recovering from this disease? Answering these questions now will help doctors and researchers protect the health and welfare of New York State residents, including SUNY students and employees statewide, as well as the communities in which they reside.

The Halvorsen Lab at the RNA Institute at the University at Albany was recently awarded an NSF grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) to develop an alternative diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 using DNA nanoswitches.

Two RNA Institute scientists produce a nanotechnology approach that detects disease biomarkers at lower cost.