ELRIG, a not-for-profit, volunteer-led organization for the drug discovery community, today announced the keynote speakers for Therapeutic Oligonucleotides 2025 taking place at the AstraZeneca R&D site in Gothenburg, Sweden from 14-15 May. Prof Rory Johnson, Associate Professor, University College Dublin, and Dr Shalini Andersson, Vice President Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, AstraZeneca will lead this year's event focused on 'drugging the undruggable'.
This second ELRIG meeting on Therapeutic Oligonucleotides brings together esteemed scientists from academia, industry, and other members of the drug discovery community to explore the discovery, validation, and targeting of oligonucleotide-based drug candidates, including antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and small interfering RNA (siRNA). The two-day event will delve into the nature of drug targets amenable to modulation by oligonucleotides, while comparing the advantages and limitations of these modalities with other drug types. It will also cover recent advancements in broadening their application, including innovative approaches to ensure their safety and efficacy, the use of targeted delivery to reach disease-relevant tissues as well as success stories in bringing therapeutic oligonucleotides to the clinic. In addition, the conference comprises poster presentations, networking sessions, a vendor exhibition and a tour of AstraZeneca's R&D center. There will also be a poster award for early-career professionals recognizing the research that the next generation of scientists bring to drug discovery.
Prof Rory Johnson is an Associate Professor at University College Dublin, where his research focusses on uncovering the roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in human health and disease using an interdisciplinary combination of bioinformatic and experimental methods. After PhD and postdoctoral work in the UK and Singapore, Prof Johnson received a prestigious Ramón y Cajal fellowship at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (Barcelona). There, he worked with the GENCODE consortium to establish foundational lncRNA gene annotations, which are considered a standard reference in the field. In 2016, he was appointed Junior Group Leader with the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) in RNA & Disease, where he established the laboratory for Genomics Of LncRNAs in Disease (GOLD Lab). GOLD Lab collaborates with leading international consortia, including Genomics England and FANTOM (Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome). His team has developed CRISPR-Cas and cancer-driver methods for the discovery of oncogenic lncRNAs that are promising targets for therapeutic oligonucleotides. Prof Johnson's keynote presentation on day one will focus on "Genomics-powered lncRNA therapeutics for oncology".
At AstraZeneca, Dr Shalini Andersson is Vice President Nucleic Acid Therapeutics in Discovery Sciences and Chief Scientist New Therapeutic Modalities in BioPharmaceuticals R&D. Earlier in her career, she held several leadership roles within AstraZeneca, including Senior Director for Drug Metabolism & Pharmacokinetics and Director for Lead Optimization & Enabling Technologies within medicinal chemistry. Dr Andersson is a member of the joint steering committee for the collaboration with Ionis Pharma, Silence Therapeutics and JCR Pharmaceuticals focused on discovery and development of nucleic acid and protein therapeutics. She is also on the board of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society, OligoNova (Sweden) and part of the scientific advisory group for the UK Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Accelerator. Prior to joining AstraZeneca in 1997, she was an Associate Professor at the University of Linköping, Sweden where she also completed her PhD. Dr Andersson has authored over 70 peer-reviewed articles and is a named inventor on six patents. She will explore "Developing nucleic acids into therapeutics and enabling expansion of target space using targeted delivery" during her keynote address on the second day.
Dr Fredrik Edfeldt, Conference Director, ELRIG and Director, Mechanistic & Structural Biology, AstraZeneca, said: "Oligonucleotide-based drugs, including ASOs and siRNAs, are already significantly impacting patients' lives. Our ambition is to build upon the success of the inaugural Therapeutic Oligonucleotides meeting to establish an open-access platform that fosters an inspiring environment for networking, encouraging collaboration between biologists and chemists across diverse research areas to help drive these therapeutic modalities towards clinical success.
Prof Johnson and Dr Andersson are internationally renowned speakers in the field of using oligonucleotides as therapeutics; so, we are delighted to have them share their expertise with the drug discovery community at this year's event.
RNA therapeutics promise more effective, less toxic drugs, which can be rapidly developed and tailored to each patient. I look forward to connecting with the ELRIG community later this year to discuss how we can further our understanding and treatment of human disease through insights and tools afforded by genomics."
Prof Rory Johnson, Associate Professor, University College Dublin
Dr Shalini Andersson, Vice President Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, said: "I'm honored to be invited to present at Therapeutic Oligonucleotides 2025. Collaboration is key to our success in this novel area of drug discovery so having a dedicated forum to share our learnings is of immense value and will help drive the development of targeted oligonucleotide therapies towards the clinic faster."
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