Fundraising and Philanthropy Committee

Dr. Marlene Belfort is a Distinguished Professor at the University at Albany and a senior advisor of the RNA Institute. Dr. Belfort has a noteworthy scientific career, including the discovery and description of prokaryotic introns, for which she received the RNA Society Lifetime Achievement in Science Award. Dr. Belfort is an advocate for women in science and has written a book called Mommy, Can Boys Also Be Doctors? about balancing professional and family life. She is a member of several prestigious societies, including the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Lynne Maquat is the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair, Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Rochester and founding director of the Center for RNA Biology. Dr. Maquat’s scientific career includes the discovery of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in human disease and foundational work on mechanisms that regulate mRNA quality and turnover. Dr. Maquat is an advocate for women in science and founded Graduate Women in Science at the University of Rochester. She has received multiple awards, including the RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Awards in Service and in Science, and is a member of several prestigious societies, including the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Sam Fagg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Fagg’s research focuses on how post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression influences cell fate decisions, with interests spanning development, stem cell differentiation, heart and liver disease, and regenerative medicine. Some of his recent work has helped define how the spliceosome and RNA-binding proteins like Quaking (QKI) compete for splice site recognition.

Dr. Laura Hertz is a Research Fellow in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Hertz’s research focuses on RNA engineering for cardiac gene therapies. Her recent thesis work investigated the dynamic sequence-structure-function relationship during co-transcriptional RNA folding. She will be a 2027 Humboldt Research Fellow to study the evolution of RNA storage in dormant oocytes.

Dr. Safiya Khurshid is a Principal Investigator at Sanford Research and Assistant Professor at University of South Dakota. Dr. Khurshid’s research focuses on cancer biology and alternative splicing, with interests in how tumor microenvironmental stresses such as hypoxia and metabolic starvation reshape splicing programs in pediatric cancers. Some of her recent work has examined how splice-switching oligonucleotides can be used to restore normal splicing in cancer cells and reduce tumorigenic phenotypes.

Dr. Lela Lackey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University. Dr. Lackey’s research focuses on how precursor RNA structure and genetic variation influence splicing, polyadenylation and ultimately gene expression. Some of her recent work has examined RNA structural patterns at SF3B1-sensitive cryptic 3′ splice sites. Her lab combines experimental and computational approaches to study RNA regulatory mechanisms relevant to human disease.

Dr. Jun-Jie Liu is an Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University. Dr. Liu’s research focuses on CRISPR systems and RNA-guided nucleases. His recent work includes using structural and biochemical approaches to define how RNA components regulate DNA cleavage in retrotransposon and CRISPR-associated systems. His lab also develops gene-editing tools based on mechanistic insights into RNA-guided nuclease complexes.

Dr. Morghan Lucas is Co-Lead of Research and Development at MGZ Medical Genetics Center in Munich. Dr. Lucas’s research focuses on sequencing technologies and molecular diagnostics, with interests in applying nanopore sequencing to RNA modification detection and genetic disease testing. Some of her recent work has developed nanopore-based approaches for direct RNA sequencing, including Nano-tRNAseq for measuring tRNA abundance and modifications. Her current work applies long-read and multi-omics approaches to improve molecular diagnostic testing for human diseases.

Dr. Yuki Tomari is a Professor at the Institute for Quantitative Biosciences at the University of Tokyo. Dr. Tomari’s research focuses on non-coding RNA biology, with interests in how RNA-protein complexes regulate gene expression and genome defense. Some of his recent work has examined mechanisms of piRNA biogenesis, miRNA-mediated gene silencing, and Argonaute-associated RNA pathways. He has received several awards, including the Japan Academy Medal and the Inoue Prize for Science.