New Frontiers in RNA Research - Berlin Conference to Highlight New Potentials in Disease Research

National Foundation for Cancer Research
Monday, 17 March 2003

The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) today announced an upcoming conference titled "New Frontiers in RNA Research" to be held in Berlin Germany, July 9 -12, 2003 at the Academy of Sciences, Berlin-Brandenburg. The conference is hosted by the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) based in Bethesda, the United States and the NFCR Center for RNA Research at Freie Universitaet in Germany, one of NFCR's nine global research centers. Additional sponsors include; Krebsforschung International E.V. (KFI), C+T Development GmbH, Lufthansa, AG, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Knauthe Eggers, RiNA GmbH, Industrial Investment Council (IIC), NOXXON Pharma AG, and BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg.

Focusing on RNA, recently named "molecule of the year" by Science Magazine, the conference is set to highlight the increasingly important role that RNA is playing in biological processes and the continuing development of RNA technologies for therapeutic uses and its promise towards new anticancer therapies. Set to present at the conference are a number of the world's leading scientists and specialists in RNA research including:

• Dr. Alexander Rich, M.D., NFCR Project Director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA - "A role for Z-DNA or Z-RNA Binding in Pox Virus Pathogenesis: Relevance to Small Pox Therapy"


• Dr. John Rossi, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA - "Therapeutic Applications of siRNA Expression in Cancer and in AIDS"


• Dr. Paul Schimmel, NFCR Fellow, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA - "Angiogenic Signaling by Biological Fragments of Human tRNA Synthetases"


• Professor Donald Crothers, Co-Director, NFCR Center for Protein and Nucleic Acid at Yale University, New Haven CT - "Measuring the Global Structure and Mechanical Properties of DNA and the Relation to Protein-DNA Complexes"

Additional Speakers and Presenters Include:

"Our goal with this conference is to better understand the impact that RNA can play in disease research," said Lorie Karnath, Co-Chairman of the conference and Managing Director for International Rescentris. "We feel RNA research certainly holds one of the key elements to defeating diseases like cancer."

"As we continue to move forward in our understanding of the genetics of cancer, we get closer and closer to our goal of curing cancer," said Franklin C. Salisbury, Jr., President of NFCR.

Registration is open to the public. For further information about this conference or to register to attend, please visit the website at www.nfcr.org or call 01-301-654-1250, in the U.S. (800) 321-CURE.

About NFCR

Since its founding in 1973, the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) has provided more than $180 million to fund research focused on understanding how and why cells become cancerous. This worldwide "laboratory without walls" assembles the intellectual power to achieve one of medicine's greatest goals: the end of cancer. It is believed that prevention, treatment, and cure depend on understanding cancer's genetic origins and environmental influences as well as the "individual" nature of the disease. NFCR's research discoveries are now on the threshold of being translated into therapies and potential cures for cancer patients. For more information, please visit them on the web at www.NFCR.org.

For more information, or to contact National Foundation for Cancer Research, see their website at: www.researchforacure.com