News

November 12-14, 2024 - Great outing at the 12th International mRNA Health Conference in Boston, the premier conference for RNA therapeutics. Craig's invited talk elicited lots of interest in our work. Five other members of the team presented three posters and one, authored by Diwakaran (and Sonu) earned a first place prize for best poster of the conference (from about 125 posters)! Congratulations to Diwakaran, and to Sonu, Ruptanu, Khiem, and Amin.

October 31 - November 3, 2024 - Amin and Craig presented at the 21st Biennial Meeting of Post-Initiation Activities of RNA Polymerases in Mountain Lake, VA. As always, the meeting was wonderful and focused on all things mechanistic in transcription This was our first return to the conference in over a decade and was our lab's first presentation on termination at this meeting, which is also generally known as the Termination Meeting.

Upcoming conference presentations:

September 17-19, 2024. We presented our work at the 3rd Annual mRNA Process Development & Manufacturing Summit in Boston. Sonu and Ruptanu joined in and presented their work, while Craig gave an invited talk, participated in a panel on mRNA therapeutic assay development, and chaired a session on accelerating scale out to the clinic.

August 27, 2024 - Congratulations to Amin Abek - recipient of the William E. McEwen Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation (First Place) at the UMass Chemistry Department annual ResearchFest!

August 19-22, 2024 - We presented at the 16th Annual Bioprocess Summit in Boston

August 1, 2024 - Personalized cancer vaccines, mRNA of course, are coming. Read about them in this Nature article. Congratulations to BioNTech and Regeneron, who report positive phase II clinical trials on a vaccine targeting advanced melanoma (see report here).

July 19, 2024 - Craig visits RPI and U Albany, presenting a seminar at the RNA Institute. Thanks to hosts Andy Berglund (Albany) and Georges Belfort (RPI) - and their students and postdocs!

July 12, 2024 - Bridge RNA - the next big thing? Autonomous transposable elements poised to compete with CRISPR? When it does, we'll be ready to generate the 180 base targeting RNA!

June 24, 2024 - It's official. Together with Sarah Perry's lab at UMass, we have been awarded a new NIH grant to take our RNA synthesis/manufacturing approach to a new level! We'll be developing a novel approach to generating RNA with (multiple) site-specific base modifications. A great opportunity for cell biology (more accurately mimicking the dynamic complexity of RNA) and for structural/biophysical studies (fluorescent tags, stable isotopes, and more!). Read about it at UMass and at NIH's web site. RNA is entering a new era (and see this Science article) and we hope to enable a huge expansion in our understanding of life's central molecule!

June 16, 2024 - Our most recent manuscript has been accepted at Nucleic Acids Research - "A New Approach to RNA Synthesis: Immobilization of Stably and Functionally Co-Tethered Promoter DNA and T7 RNA Polymerase," Kithmie MalagodaPathiranage, Ruptanu Banerjee, and Craig T. Martin. This builds on our earlier work, but with a much more stable system. We've made 40 rounds of synthesis from a single polymerase-DNA set of re-usable beads and show high quality kilobase mRNA (we've since hit 8 kb!). Check it out under the "Publications" menu here.

June 26-28, 2024. Amin presented our work at the 6th Annual RNA Therapeutics "From Concept to Clinic" Conference in Worcester.

June 26-27, 2024 - we presented at the mRNA Quality Control & Compliance Summit in Boston. Craig was co-lead in two Roundtable Discussions: 1) Innovations in Addressing Purification Challenges to Produce High Quality mRNA Therapeutics & Vaccines and 2) Discussion Of Current Assays, Metrics & Prospects For The Future.

April 21-24, 2024 - We presented an invited talk at the AIChE mRNA Technology Conference in Boston.

March 12-14, 2024 - We presented an invited talk at the mRNA Design and Delivery Conference (OPT Congress) in Boston. Craig chaired a session on Innovations in mRNA Manufacturing

March 6, 2024 - Jamuna and Ruptanu presented their work in the Chemistry Biology Interface Chalk Talk series. Nice job!

February 20, 2024 - Purnima gave a well-received talk in the Molecular & Cellular Biology Postdoc Showcase.

February 10-14, 2024 - We presented our work at the Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in Philadelphia. Jamuna, Ruptanu, Purnima, and Diwakaran presented a nice overview poster, while Amin presented his work on termination and fidelity.

January 4, 2024. A very nice piece on the future of mRNA therapeutics by our UMass Med School colleague Li Li.

December 6-7, 2023 - Craig is an invited speaker at the mRNA Assay Development Summit, Boston, MA, presenting an exciting new assay developed by Jamuna.

November 8, 2023 - Craig is interviewed by Charlotte Baker, Editor of Vaccine Insights. A nice summary of where we are and where we are going!

November 15, 2023 - Craig presents Martin lab progress in an invited talk at a symposium on RNA manufacturing, hosted by A*Star colleagues in Singapore.

November 12-14, 2023 - Craig provides two presentations to the Wellcome Leap R3 PI meeting in Singapore. Reporting on a new analytical approach (ask us!) and on our recent synthesis of 8.4 kb mRNA using the co-tethered system.

October 2, 2023 - Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman earn the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19." Of course, this success is critical for drawing attention to the much larger potential for mRNA therapeutics. An exciting time to be in the field!

September 26-28, 2023 - Craig is featured on a dsRNA discussion panel, and then delivers a plenary lecture on the lab's recent successes at the 2nd Annual mRNA Process Development & Manufacturing Summit in Boston

September 21, 2023 - Duccio Medini, Wellcome Leap R3 program director and Richard Wooldridge, new COO of Wellcome Leap, visit the lab for the day.

August 31, 2023 - We say goodbye to Kithmie as she takes a position at CDMO ReciBioPharm in Watertown, MA. From grad student to postdoc (for the past year), she has contributed enormously to our RNA manufacturing efforts and we wish her the best of luck!

August 30, 2023 - Congratulations to Ruptanu for earning a top poster prize at the Department of Chemistry ResearchFest (and to Purnima, Jamuna, and Amin for each winning goodies in an associated raffle - Amin looks dapper in his new periodic table bow tie!)

August 25, 2023 - Craig is in the invited speaker lineup for the mRNA Design and Delivery OPT Conference in Boston, Mar 13-14 in Boston.

August 5, 2023 - Following on our recent foray into quality analytics, Craig is in the invited speaker line up for the mRNA Assay Development Summit in Boston, Dec 6-7, and in the invited speaker line up for

August 1, 2023 - Welcome to new postdoc Sonu Kizhakkepura!

July 7, 2023 - Kithmie's Methods in Enzymology "how to" review on gapped/high salt transcription is available. Learn an easy fix for improving your RNA - but stay tuned for even better approaches! Free to download through August 26 at this link.

July 1, 2023. Priyanka's last day. We wish her all the best and look forward to following her future successes!

Sept 26-28, 2023 - Craig in the invited speaker line up for the 2nd Annual mRNA Process Development & Manufacturing Summit in Boston.

June 21-23, 2023 - The lab is off to the 5th Annual RNA Therapeutics Conference: From Concept to Clinic.

June 16, 2023 - We present at the Annual CBI Retreat, in Worcester

June 15, 2023 - Our Methods in Enzymology "how to" review on gapped/high salt transcription has been accepted for publication. Watch here and under Publications! But email Craig if you'd like a pre-print.

June 15, 2023 - Craig presents a seminar at Moderna Tx. Hosted by Martin lab alum Yasaman Gholamalipour and former collaborator Bijoyita Roy.

June 13-14, 2023 - Craig co-leads a workshop at the mRNA Quality Control & Comparability Summit in Boston.

May 14-16, 2023. Wellcome Leap R3 investigators meeting in Sienna, Italy!

February 18-22, 2023. We present at the Biophysical Society Meeting in San Diego.

February 14, 2023 - Our latest patent has just been issued! Flow synthesis of RNA is on the move! Congratulations to Kithmie, Elvan, Yasaman, Shuo and Sarah!

January 31, 2023 - Congratulations to Kithmie and her colleagues. Her paper "High-salt transcription from enzymatically gapped promoters nets higher yields and purity of transcribed RNAs," is just out in Nucleic Acids Research!

January 8, 2023 - Purnima traveled to Ventura, CA to present at the RNA Nanotechnology Gordon Conference. Great things coming from this one!

November 14, 2022 - Off to London for a meeting of Wellcome Leap R3 programs!

November 8, 2022 - Excited to be presenting at the 10th International mRNA Health Conference in Boston!

October 12, 2022 - RNA4Tx, Inc officially incorporated! Stay tuned for more at https://RNA4Tx.com

September 21-22, 2022 - Craig was an invited speaker at the mRNA Process Development And Manufacturing Summit, presenting a summary of some recent successes from the lab (congratulations to Kithmie for most of the results!) and providing experience guidance to participants. Our successes in eliminating dsRNA production at synthesis were well-received by a crowd eager to be done with dsRNA contaminants. Craig was also a panelist on the Developing High-Quality mRNA to Ensure Optimal Functionality panel, moderated by Martin lab alum Elvan Cavac.

August 30, 2022 - Congratulations to Ruptanu, selected for a poster award at this year's ResearchFest! Keep that exciting research rolling!

August 1, 2022 - Welcome to Diwakaran Palaniswamy, Chem E grad student, to the lab

July 25, 2022 - We're excited to welcome new postdoc, Berkant Yetiskin

July 23, 2022 - a great 8th floor canoeing, kayaking, and stand up paddle boarding adventure!

July 221, 2022 - Craig and Ruptanu attend the 15th Annual Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation day (#MALSI22) in Boston.

July 13, 2022 - Congratulations to Kithmie for very successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation today ("MECHANISM-DRIVEN APPROACHES AND NOVEL CONSTRUCTS FOR HIGH PURITY RNA SYNTHESIS"). Wonderful work from a great scientist!

July 5, 2022 - We're excited to welcome another new postdoc to the lab, Priyanka Kaushik.

June 25, 2022 - Kithmie does it again - voted 3rd best, conference wide, for her poster at the RNA Therapeutics Conference this week.

June 22, 2022 - Although virtual, we are excited to be attending and presenting at the RNA Therapeutics Conference.

June 20, 2022 - We're excited to welcome a new undergraduate researcher to the group, Chris Famulari, coming to us from a 6 month internship at Moderna!

June 10, 2022 - We're excited to welcome a new postdoc to the lab, Jamuna Vaishnav.

May 19, 2022 - The lab was excited to host Wellcome Leap R3 Program Director, Duccio Medini and Program Coordinator, Kejda Daka, for an in person visit to UMass!

May 18, 2022 - Just back from the Wellcome Leap R3 semi-annual PI meeting, this first one in Cambridge, MA. Fun hearing about all of the exciting plans from program members!

May 1, 2022 - Check us out in UMass Magazine - The Promise of mRNA

April 22, 2022 - Congratulations to alum Yasaman Gholamalipour, just off of a very successful postdoc at UMass Med and now heading to a position at Moderna!

April 20, 2022 - Our new postdoc Purnima Mala has arrived in town. We're excited to welcome her into the group!

April, 2022 - Alex Kyranos (BS, 2022) will be enrolling in a PhD program at the University of California Santa Barbara this Fall. Congratulations Alex!

mid-February, 2022 - Eddie Esposito (PhD, 2005) has returned to the world of RNA - joining GreenLight Biosciences as a Senior Scientist, CMC Analytical Characterization.

January 27, 2022 - Welcome to new undergraduate researcher Jacqueline Racine (BS, Biochemistry, 2023)

January 13, 2022 - Our work is in the (local) news again. And again (Jan 25).

December 6, 2021 - Wellcome Leap R3 Kick Off meeting, with participants from around the world! We are excited to a part of this important global project.

October 28, 2021. We're excited (yet again!) to announce that the lab has been selected for substantial funding from the Wellcome Leap R3 (RNA Readiness+Response) program - "R3 seeks to change the dynamics and costs of biologics development and production, addressing the limitations of current manufacturing by establishing RNA as a versatile, deployable, standardized, multi-product platform technology." We will be hiring four new postdocs to work on materials, microfluidics, and biochemistry/enzymology. Inquire here to join us!

October 15, 2021. We're excited to announce that we have received a Manning/IALS Phase II Innovation Award to accelerate our NIH-funded efforts at developing a flow reactor for RNA manufacturing. We're actively seeking a talented postdoctoral candidate to join us, preferably with experience in microfluidics and/or materials for the immobilization of proteins and/or DNA. Inquiries welcomed.

Welcome two new undergraduate researchers to the lab: Alex Kyranos (B.S. in Biology expected 2022) and Josh Paine (B.S. in Chemistry expected 2023).

August, 2021 - Luis Ramirez, PhD, 2013) has taken a position as Senior Scientist at CATALOG, a DNA computing company.

August 21, 2022 - Congratulations to alum Elvan, now Scientist II - Upstream Process Development at Tessera Therapeutics.

July 22, 2021. Congratulations to Elvan and Luis. Their manuscript demonstrating the proof of principle co-tethered transcription system (inspired by Eddie's earlier pioneering work) was just published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Read about it in our publications.

June 25, 2021. Kithmie does it again! First Place Award for Short Talks at the 2021 RNA Therapeutics: From Concept to Clinic Conference.

June 25, 2021. The lab presents two posters and a short talk at the 2021 RNA Therapeutics: From Concept to Clinic Conference. Nice work everyone!

June 11, 2021 - Ruptanu has been selected as an NIH Chemistry-Biology Interface Program Trainee!

May 13-14, 2021 - Congratulations to graduating seniors Amelia (BS, Chemistry) and Julia (BS, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)! We look forward to hearing back from them frequently.

April 12, 2021 - Congratulations to graduating senior Amelia, who has earned four awards from the Dept of Chemistry: the Mr Tompkins Award, the 2021 Connecticut Valley Section/American Chemical Society Award, the Royal Society of Chemistry Certificate of Excellence for 2021, and a one-year membership to the American Chemical Society. A well-earned set of awards!

November 16, 2020 - While not exactly Martin Lab news, we are extremely excited by the preliminary reports coming from BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna, suggesting outstanding success in their SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccine development! This is obviously great news globally, but also provides compelling evidence that mRNA therapeutics, more broadly, will have a huge impact across a wide variety of diseases!

November 10, 2020 - Kithmie wins 3rd place (conference-wide) for her poster presentation at the 8th International mRNA Health Conference!

October 7, 2020. We're so excited to be vicariously enjoying the well-earned successes of Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, winners of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their ground breaking work on CRISPR!

August 20, 2020. Elvan Cavaç defended her Ph.D. dissertation, in front of an international Zoom audience. Congratulations to Elvan for some ground-breaking research, very well received. She will be starting a UMass MBA program, as a Business Innovation Fellow, almost immediately!

May 28, 2020. Alum Yasaman Gholamalipour has won the highly competitive HDSA Berman-Topper Family HD Career Development Fellowship to support her in her postdoctoral research that will attempt to reverse the CAG repeat expansion sequence in the mutant huntingtin gene in cellular and animal HD models using the CRISPR-Cas9 nickase genome-editing tool. Congratulations!!

April 1, 2020. Lab receives new four year NIH award "Systems for Dramatically Improved Synthetic RNA"

April 2020. Lab receives a 2020 Acorn Innovation Award from the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center!

April 10, 2020. Congratulations to Will for being chosen as one of only four "Rising Researchers" across campus! In the Fall, he will start in the Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology at Tufts University.

November 22, 2019. Elvan presents a talk on her research at the 2019 Life Science Graduate Research Symposium, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

November 13, 2019. Craig presented a seminar at TriLink Biotechnologies, San Diego, CA.

September 18, 2019. Craig presented a seminar at Arrakis Therapeutics in Waltham, MA.

September 11, 2019. Congratulations to alum Gang Han (PhD 2007, joint w/ Rotello), newly promoted to Full Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Hear him talk about his successes in bioengineered night vision here.

September 7, 2019. Elvan has been selected as a student speaker at the Annual Retreat of the Program in Molecular & Cellular Biology (MCB).

August 27, 2019. Yasaman, selected as one of four student speakers at the Annual Chemistry Department Posterfest, wins an award for her outstanding talk!

August 27, 2019. Elvan wins an award for her poster presentation at the Annual Chemistry Department Posterfest!

August 16, 2019. Yasaman successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation!! Great job!

June 26-28, 2019. Yasaman and Kithmie (and Craig) presented a poster at the 2019 RNA Therapeutics Conference: From Mechanism to Therapy, in Worcester, MA. They presented recent work from our lab that offers approaches for better transcription by T7 RNA polymerase.

June 11-16, 2019. Elvan presented a poster at the Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, in Krakow, Poland. Her poster presented two new approaches from our group that offer better (higher yield, higher quality!) RNA synthesis by T7 RNA polymerase.

June 3, 2019. Yasaman presented her recently submitted work at the Pioneer Valley RNA Club (PiVaRC) RNA Salon.

May 30, 2019 - Lab receives Phase I Manning Research Fellow Award.

Feb 21, 2019. Craig presented a seminar at New England Biolabs.

Nov 12-13, 2018. Craig spoke at the 6th International mRNA Health Conference, in Cambridge, MA

Sept 14, 2018. Yasaman's paper, "3’ end additions by T7 RNA polymerase are RNA self-templated, distributive, and diverse in character – RNA-Seq analyses," published in Nucl Acids Res, 46, 9253-9263, was selected by the editors as a “Breakthrough Article.” Congratulations Yasi!!

June 28-30, 2018. Yasaman presented her work at the inaugural RNA Therapeutics from Base Pairs to Bedsides conference, in Worcester, MA. She had lots of positive queries from the attendees.