Research Center

Reproductive Medicine
Genomics Medicine
Brain Health and Neurology
RNA Medicine
Oncology Medicine
Aging Medicine
Metabolic Medicine
RNA Medicine

Introduction

The Center for RNA Medicine (CRM) is physically localized at The International Institutes of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Yiwu, China, with > 5000 square meter area renovated for RNA research. The center is led by vice present Dr. Tianhua Zhou and focuses on paving the way to apply RNA therapeutics in humans. CRM seeks to open a new era of RNA medicine in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of human complex diseases. CRM is in the process of recruiting 15-20 tenure-tracked faculty at the full, associate, and assistant professor stages and 30-40 research-tracked faculty, as well as purchasing equipment of up to 20 million RMB. Currently, we have purchased Bruker Avance III™ HD 500 MHz, Malvern NanoSight NS300, IZON Exoid, Zeiss Axio Imager Z2, JASCO J-1700 Circular Dichroism, BECKMAN XPN100 Ultracentrifuge, LI-COR Odyssey CLx, BR-188 Density Gradient Fractionation System, ZEISS SteREO Discovery.V20, Eppendorf Microinjection System, and Beckman Optima MAX-XP. While Agilent 6125 LC/MS and Agilent 1290-6545XT are pending. Based on the above, CRM intends to adopt a dynamic, multi-scale, and multi-dimensional systematic research approach to explore a series of new targets such as RNA and its peptide derivatives that play a key role in critical human diseases such as tumors and rare genetic diseases, and develop new RNA drugs and mRNA vaccines for tumors and rare genetic diseases, and focus on solving the bottleneck of RNA delivery system in vivo to start a new journey of RNA medicine in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of complex human diseases. We aim to set up multi-interdisciplinary platforms for fundamental and translational research, becoming a leading RNA center worldwide.

Core Team

The Center for RNA Medicine currently consists of one Zhejiang University “Qiushi” Distinguished Professor, one Distinguished Associate Research Fellow, and two postdoctoral fellows. At the moment, the Center for RNA Medicine is in the process of recruiting 15-20 tenure-tracked faculty at the full, associate, and assistant professor stages and 30-40 research-tracked faculty, and will provide ongoing high-level clinical translation and cutting-edge multidisciplinary collaboration.

Li Xin
Li Xin

Professor, Doctoral supervisor, Scientific Director for Fertility Center, Zhejiang University “Qiushi” Distinguished Professor, Director of RNA Medicine Center, and Principal Investigator at the International Institutes of Medicine, Zhejiang University.

Xin Li received his PhD from Cornell University in the US in 2009 and got his bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University in 2004. Xin Li has long been dedicated to RNA translation and degradation, environmental effects on male reproduction, and comparative genomics of poultry. He pioneered the discovery of biological functions of ribosomes other than translation: directing small RNA production, revealing the anti-viral function of piRNA in higher animals, and discovering the presence of intact and conserved messenger RNA in sperm: serving as a carrier of information for intergenerational inheritance. Recent studies have been published in well-known academic journals as corresponding author and first author, including Nat. Cell Biol., Nat. Commun., eLife, Mol. Cell, Biol. Reprod., Front. Cell Dev. Biol., Genetics, PLOS Biol., PLoS Genet., Poult. Sci.

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Deivendran Rengaraj
Deivendran Rengaraj

Distinguished Associate Research Fellow in RNA Medicine Center, the International Institutes of Medicine, Zhejiang University.

Deivendran Rengaraj got his PhD from Bharathiar University. Before joining Zhejiang University, he was a research associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University. Deivendran Rengaraj concentrates on animal reproduction with particular emphasis on the development, genetics, and transcriptomics of primordial germ cells and germ-line cells. Additionally, he is an expert in the transgenesis of chicken primordial germ cells and the production of transgenic chickens by utilizing genome editing technology, including the latest CRISPR/Cas9 system. As a first author or co-author, recent studies have been published in several prestigious journals of the field, including Comput. Struct. Biotechnol. J., Int. J. Mol. Sci., Sci. Rep., FASEB J., Cell. Mol. Life Sci., J. Anim. Sci. Biotechnol., J. Proteome. Res., BMC Genom., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, and Biol. Reprod.

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Mission
Our mission is to lead the basic research and therapeutic application of RNA. 1. Scientific goal: assemble a group of top-notched RNA scientists covering diverse topics in the RNA field. 2. Translational goal: promote the interaction between RNA scientists and scientists from other fields, as well as clinical and industry, facilitating the application of RNA in medicine. 3. Educational goal: nurturing the next generation of RNA scientists, and creating a unique community for young scientists to grow and develop.
Research Fields

1. RNA biomedical research and therapeutic target development

2. Computational RNA biology

3. Biotechnology development for RNA-targeted delivery in vivo

4. Chemical modification to RNA and structural study of RNA Biology