Welcome
to Vancouver
for RNA 2020!
Vancouver is the largest city in British Columbia, and a thriving and diverse international hub for commerce, technology and tourism. Situated along the waterfront between the Strait of Georgia and the Coast Mountains, Vancouver is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world and is a popular tourist destination. More information on the city of Vancouver can be found at Tourism Vancouver.
We are looking forward to an exciting program featuring two Keynote lectures
Melissa Moore (Moderna Therapeutics, Cambridge, USA)
Jack Szostak (Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, USA)
plus plenary and concurrent sessions covering old and new topics, all related to advances in RNA biology and applications to biotechnology, health and the environment. Talks will be selected from submitted abstracts. The submission deadline for oral presentations will be February 28, 2020.
Vancouver Convention Centre
The RNA 2020 Meeting will be held in the
Vancouver Convention Centre.
An award-winning facility on the downtown waterfront, the Convention Centre offers ample space for scientific sessions, workshops, and poster sessions, all with spectacular views of the surrounding harbor. The adjacent downtown offers hotels and many restaurants within walking distance from the Convention Centre, with lower-cost accommodations at the University of British Columbia accessible via a conference shuttle. Nearby Stanley Park offers exceptional opportunities for walking, running, cycling and boating. Convenient public transportation provides access to outlying neighborhoods.
Session Chairs and Moderators
Marina Chekulaeva (Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany)
Soo-Chen Cheng (Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)
Traci Hall (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, US)
Anastasia Khvorova (University of Massachusetts Medical School, US)
Ute Kothe (University of Lethbridge, Canada)
Franck Martin (IBMC Strasbourg, France)
Olivia Rissland (University of Colorado Denver, US)
Peter Unrau (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
Juan Valcarcel (Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain)
Jeremy Wilusz (University of Pennsylvania, US)
Scientific topics
| Long non-coding RNA |
Bioinformatics & genomics |
| Splicing mechanisms and regulation |
RNA folding & RNP assembly |
| Micro-RNA biogenesis and function |
Ribozymes and RNA catalysis |
| RNA turnover |
RNA structural modeling |
| RNA modification & editing |
Origins of life and evolution |
| Translation and translational control |
New technologies |
| Interconnected processes |
High-throughput discovery |
| RNA localization |
Extracellular RNA |
| RNA bodies, granules & condensates |
RNA therapeutics and diagnostics |
| RNA and disease |
RNA nanotechnology |
| tRNA synthesis, modification and biology |
Viral RNA |
The majority of the RNA 2020 program will include plenary and concurrent sessions and workshops featuring talks selected from submitted abstracts. In the spirit of RNA society conferences, preference will be given to abstracts to be presented by graduate students, postdoctoral scientists, and junior PIs and that feature recent or unpublished work. We encourage young scientists to submit their work for oral presentation!
Poster Sessions
Presenters will have the opportunity to display their posters during the entire meeting to provide ample opportunities to engage scientific colleagues and to win prizes for best posters in different categories.
Workshops
We are planning several workshops to expand the breadth of the scientific program and capitalize on satellite meetings, RiboWest and RNA Granules, and a bioinformatics and computational modeling hackathon. We welcome suggestions of workshops related to rapidly developing areas. Final topics will depend on the abstracts received.
Career development and networking
Panel discussions on preparing grant proposals, publishing, and careers in biotechnology are in development. There will be networking functions for junior scientists plus a new meet-up for junior PIs!
Cultural events
The meeting will start with a Keynote Lecture by Jack Szostak, followed by an Opening Ceremony and Reception on Tuesday, May 26, and will end with the Award Ceremony and Gala Dinner/Dance in the evening of Saturday, May 30.
Further details of the program, including links to accommodation, transportation, and travel fellowships, and also sight-seeing opportunities will be provided on the conference web site in due course.
We look forward to welcoming you to RNA 2020 to present your research and to experience beautiful Vancouver and British Columbia!
On behalf of the organizers,
Ling-ling Chen (Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, China)
Michaela Frye (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg, Germany)
Alain Laederach (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA)
Oliver Mühlemann (University of Berne, Switzerland)
Stephen Rader (University of Northern British Columbia, Canada)
Sarah Woodson (Lead, Johns Hopkins University, USA)
