One of the pioneers in creating an understanding of how RNA is a major regulator in our cells, the University of Michigan’s Dr. Nils Walter, is the featured guest for the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) Speaker Series.
Walter comes to the University of Lethbridge upon invitation by Dr. Ute Kothe, with whom he shares many research interests.
“I am excited to welcome Dr. Walter to the U of L and to exchange ideas about RNA research, student training and the importance of RNA research for our society,” says Kothe. “Through his visit, we can strengthen our connection between ARRTI and the Center for RNA Biomedicine at the University of Michigan.”
Walter will present Single Molecules Come into Focus: Understanding RNA-Driven Regulation from First Principles on Monday, November 26 at 3 p.m. in room L1060 at the U of L library. The talk is open to the public.
Walter’s lab uses tools from chemical biology, analytical chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and bioinformatics to define and unleash the powers of RNA biology and DNA nanotechnology. This interdisciplinary approach is very similar to that taken by ARRTI.
Compared to proteins, a much larger proportion of our genome encodes RNAs, which play a much more important function in health and disease than previously thought. Walter has been a leader in understanding non-coding RNAs, investigating the functions of RNAs from the molecular to the cellular level. In particular, he has been a leader in understanding bacterial RNAs that constitute promising targets for new antimicrobial drugs. Given the quickly increasing problem of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections causing millions of deaths around the world, Walter’s research is thus tackling a hugely important problem.
Walter has been at the University of Michigan since 1999, and is now a Francis S. Collins Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, Biophysics and Biological Chemistry. He is also the Founding Director of the Single Molecule Analysis in Real-Time (SMART) Center and the Founding Co-director of the Center for RNA Biomedicine, both at the University of Michigan.
ARRTI has been holding the ARRTI Speaker Series since 2014, in which researchers, both local and external, are invited to speak about their current research in RNA and related topics. This year, in recognition of its influence, the ARRTI Speaker Series is sponsored by the International RNA Society as part of its RNA Salon initiative to promote RNA-related research.
For more information about Walter, the Center for RNA Biomedicine, ARRTI or the hosting Kothe lab, visit these websites:
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/walter-lab/
https://www.umichrna.org/
www.uleth.ca/research/ARRTI
http://scholar.ulethbridge.ca/kothe/home