School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following seminar:

Speaker: Dr. Jasper Ho, Scientific Officer, InvivoGen
Talk Title: Utilizing cell line platforms for mRNA therapeutics development

Date: 11 September 2024 (Wednesday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Dr. Chi Ping Chan

Biography

Dr. Jasper Ho received his MPhil degree at The University of Hong Kong, where he studied the mechanism of Measles virus vaccine copyback RNA in immune sensing pathway under the mentoring of Dr. KH Kok. Then he participated in the Joint PhD program between The University of Hong Kong and Toronto University in Canada, and obtained PhD degree in 2018. During this period, he discovered the mechanism of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) inhibiting DNA damage response to accumulate DNA damage, which may contribute to tumour development. In 2018, he joined InvivoGen as technical specialist, and became the scientific officer of InvivoGen APAC region in 2022.

Abstract

mRNA vaccine has been one of the crucial discoveries to end the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to biochemist Katalin Karikó and immunologist Drew Weissman for discoveries that enabled the development of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines against COVID-19. For mRNA therapeutics to become successful, avoiding unwanted immune responses is a key factor, which was achieved by swapping uriding with pseudouridine. Later reports from Moderna also suggested a crucial role of immunogenicity in mRNA therapeutics development. To support mRNA therapeutics research, InvivoGen developed tools to assess RNA immunogenicity. In this presentation, we will discuss the use of reporter cell lines to measure immune response triggered by RNA, as well as some case studies to demonstrate actual experimental set up. We will also share information about other aspects towards a successful vaccine development.

ALL ARE WELCOME
Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Miss Crystal Chan at 3917 6830.