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Montreal – December 19, 2024Ìý– The D2R (DNA to RNA) Initiative is proud to announce the recipients of its latest round of funding, awarding a total of $1.5 million to four principal investigators and five ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ University Centres and Institutes. These awards are designed at advancing research in RNA therapeutics by facilitating industry collaboration and supporting the next generation of scientific leaders as well as research Centres and Institutes.

With a landmark $165 million investment from the Government of Canada, D2R is advancing cutting-edge science to deliver RNA-based therapies to revolutionize treatments for rare and infectious diseases, and cancer. The ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ research initiative is building powerful collaborations across academia, industry, and Indigenous communities to ensure that life-saving RNA therapies are accessible to all, especially underrepresented populations.

This new funding round supports several key areas:

• Major Partnerships: Facilitating engagement between researchers and external partners who are uniquely positioned in the translational and commercialization landscape.
• Commercialization Priming: Supporting early-stage efforts to test or validate the commercial potential of well-defined concepts, technologies, or inventions. These awards are co-funded by Génome Québec.
• Centres and Institutes Support: Enhancing ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ research Centres or Institutes impact and research by supporting their activities that are aligned with D2R’s strategic goals.
• Training Awards: Supporting graduate student development by providing training opportunities, internships with industry partners, and facilitating lab rotations.

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The following is a list of the principal investigators and scientific directors from ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ University along with their D2R-funded projects:

Major Partnerships (1 projects)

• Masad Damnha, Therapeutic development of the CRISPR-Cas12a gene editing system (with partner Eli Lilly & Company)

Commercialization Priming (2 projects)

• Jo Anne Stratton, RNA therapies for the treatment of a rare leukodystrophy
• Paul Goodyer, An mRNA strategy to restore CTNS expression in Cystinosis

Centres and Institutes Support (5 projects)

• Gerald Batist, ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ Centre for Translational Research in Cancer
• Yann Joly, Centre of Genomics and Policy
• Jörg Fritz, The ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ Research Center on Complex Traits
• Chen Liang, ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ Centre for Viral Diseases
• Morag Park, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute

Training Awards (1 projects)

• Amine Kamen, Internship program in biomanufacturing

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For more information on these exciting projects and to stay updated on the progress of D2R-funded initiatives, please visit D2R's funded projects page.