OTS Member Highlight – Masad Damha, PhD
For Masad Damha, falling in love with science was easy. Growing up in Managua, Nicaragua, his high school teachers encouraged scientific exploration, curiosity, and experimentation, such as processing vegetable oil into soap, producing hydrogen and oxygen from water via electrolysis, and determining the gravitational ...
Targeting DNA Mismatch Repair as a Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Huntington’s Disease
Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating and fatal neurodegenerative disorder affecting movement, thinking, and behavior. In the United States alone, there are approximately 40,000 people with symptomatic Huntington's disease, and more than 200,000 are at risk of inheriting it. The fatal disease often leaves ...
FDA Approval of Vutrisiran Brings New Treatment for ATTR-CM
When Sean Riley started getting numbness in his hands, he saw a local surgeon who performed carpal tunnel surgery on both his wrists. At the time, he didn't think much of his symptoms, knowing carpal tunnel was common, he attributed his symptoms to the ...
OTS Member Highlight – David Corey, PhD
Former Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society (OTS) President David Corey grew up being inspired by his father's love of science, noting that his father was not only good at what he did but he also enjoyed it. "I never measured myself against him because I knew ...
NanoCas: A Newly Identified Compact Nuclease May Expand CRISPR’s Reach
The revolutionary CRISPR-Cas system has proven to be a precise method for genome editing, showing great promise in tackling genetic disorders. However, clinical trials for CRISPR-based treatments have faced delivery challenges due to the large size of the editing system. In the quest to ...
OTS Member Highlight – Holly Kordasiewicz, PhD
Holly Kordasiewicz was a curious, chatty child with a penchant for asking questions. At dinner, conversations were often about the fascinating things her mom, a registered nurse, learned at work, sparking Kordasiewicz's interest in medicine and biology. As her grandparents aged, and she witnessed ...
Perspectives on Oligonucleotide Therapeutics: A discussion with Rebecca Miles, incoming president of OTS
Date: June 12, 2025 Time: 11-12pm EDT / 5-6pm CEST Title: Perspectives on Oligonucleotide Therapeutics: A discussion with Rebecca Miles, incoming president of OTS Presentation Description: In this interview, Dr. Rebecca Miles, the president-elect of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society, will discuss ...
Trainee Spotlight Series: Poster Winners #OTS24 Session 5
Date: May 15, 2025 Time: 11-12pm EDT / 5-6pm CEST Join us for this Trainee Spotlight webinar featuring trainee Daniel van Leeuwen, poster award winner at the 2024 OTS Annual Meeting. Title: Deciphering the impact of toxic antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) ...
OTS Member Highlight – Dr. Annemieke Aartsma-Rus
Growing up the oldest of four children in Leiden, Netherlands, Dr. Annemieke Aartsma-Rus became fascinated with medical research and genetics as a teenager. While her father's work as a physician made her realize she didn't want to be a doctor, it did teach her ...
Targeting the Kidney: The Promise of RNA-Based Therapeutics
When Yessenia Gutierrez was just nine years old, her kidneys failed; at 10 years old, she received her first kidney transplant. Gutierrez was born with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic condition that makes fluid-filled cysts grow on the kidney and can lead to ...
