Timing: The first session will start at around 8:00 am on Tuesday and the last session will end at approx. 5:00 pm on Thursday at the latest.

Notes: Actual session order and additional talks chosen from submitted abstracts will be announced later. There will also be two dedicated poster sessions presenting over 120 posters, with new companies and selected posters presenting flash talks prior to poster sessions.

Pre-Session: An introduction to mRNA Medicines
This first session will provide an overview of the field for newcomers. It will include teaching lectures on mRNA biology, current mRNA delivery systems, manufacturing and quality control, regulatory considerations and the mechanism of action of mRNA vaccines.

Keynotes Lectures:
Pieter Cullis (Nanovation; Univ of British Columbia) “Lipid nanoparticles that enable mRNA gene therapies”
Robert Langer (MIT) “From micro and nanotechnology delivery systems to mRNA therapies and what’s to come: How overcoming skepticism and barriers led to novel cancer treatments and vaccines, and new ways to tackle global health challenges”

mRNA Engineering and Translation:
Julius Lucks (Northwestern U) “mRNA folding and engineering”
Jody Puglisi (Stanford) “Dynamics of translation”
Rachel Niederer (Yale/Univ Mich) “Uncovering novel translational control elements within 5′-UTRs”
Kristin Koutmou (Univ Mich) “Consequences of mRNA modifications on translation speed and fidelity”
Hani S. Zaher (Washington University) “N1-methylpseudouridine found within COVID-19 mRNA vaccines produces faithful protein products”

mRNA Synthesis:
Bijoyita Roy (NEB) “N1‑methyl‑pseudouridine is incorporated with higher fidelity than pseudouridine in synthetic RNAs”
Hiroshi Abe (Nagoya University) “Complete Chemical Synthesis of Minimal Messenger RNA by Efficient Chemical Capping Reaction”
Evan Myers (Trilink) “Overcoming mRNA Process Optimization and Scalability Challenges”
Scott Ripley (Cytiva) “Making innovation reality: strategies for future manufacturing requirements”

LNP-mediated delivery:
Hyukjin Lee (Ewha Womans University, South Korea) “LNP mRNA delivery”
Thomas Madden (Acuitas Therapeutics) “Optimization of LNP design based on route of administration and therapeutic application”
Tim Leaver (Precision Nano) “Novel Ionizable Lipid Library for Enabling Non-Viral Delivery”
Jayesh Kulkarni (Nanovation) “Next-generation lipid nanoparticle technology for extrahepatic mRNA delivery “

Alternative Delivery Mechanisms:
Giovanni Traverso (MIT/MGH) “Biomedical device development for gastrointestinal applications”
Ana Jaklenec (MIT) – Microneedles for delivery of mRNA vaccines
Anastasia Khvorova (UMass Med) – “Transformative siRNA dianophores for extrahepatic delivery”

CMC and Quality Control:
Andreas Kuhn (BioNTech) “CMC development for mRNA-based therapeutics and vaccines”
Andreas Wagner (Polymun) “Guiding mRNA-LNP drug products from early R&D programs to the market”
Tadas Trunca (Thermo Fisher) “Innovations to support the next generation of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics”
Julian Mochayedi (MilliporeSigma) “Novel PCR-based mRNA drug substance manufacturing enhancing our integrated mRNA CDMO offering”
Speaker TBA (Roche Diagnostics) – “Process control strategies”

Regulatory Roundtable:
This session is being organized by regulatory leads from Moderna, BioNTech and CureVac. They and invited guests will discuss and answer questions about the current and future regulatory landscapes for mRNA medicines.

Advances in Prophylactic Vaccines:
Bali Pulendran (Stanford U) – Mechanism of action of mRNA vaccines
Kelly Lindert (Arcturus) “Validation of Self-Amplified mRNA for COVID-19 in Phase III Efficacy Trials”
Robin Shattock (Imperial College, London) “Self-amplifying RNA:  Applying clinical experience to platform improvements”
Wensheng Wei (Peking University) “Circular RNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and its emerging variants
Dan Peer (Tel Aviv Univ) “An Effective mRNA-LNP Vaccine Against a Highly Lethal Bacterium”

Cancer Vaccines and Therapies:
Lena Kranz (BioNTech)  “mRNA vaccines and combinations”
Steve Pascolo (University of Zurich) “Chemically synthesized minimal mRNA for anti-cancer vaccination”
James Byrne (U Iowa) “Using mRNA to protect cancer patients from radiation side effects”
Hayat Bähr-Mahmud (BioNTech) “Preclinical development of an RNA-encoded tumor specific antibody”

Therapeutics:
Joel Rurik (UPenn) “CAR T cells produced in vivo to treat cardiac injury”
Elizabeth Rosado Balmayor (RWTH Aachen) “Efficient healing of large osseous defects using optimized chemically modified messenger RNA encoding BMP-2”
David Lockhart (ReCode Therapeutics) “mRNA LNPs for the treatment of primary ciliary dyskinesia”
Marion Pönisch (CureVac) “Transcription factor mRNA therapy: a potent tool in liver disease”
Paolo Martini (Moderna) “Advances in treating inborn metabolic errors with mRNA medicines”