Program

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May 18, 2026 (Day 1)

8:30 - 9:30. Registration
9:30 -10:15. Welcome
10:15 - 11:00. Opening Lecture - Prof. Rosario Rizzuto (University of Padua and National Center for Gene Therapy and RNA Drugs, IT)
"The Italian National Center for Gene Therapy and RNA Drugs: a coordinated effort"
11:00 - 11:30. Coffee break

Session 1. RNA Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets, What Is New?

Chairs: O. Merkel and F. Quaglia

11:30 - 12:00. Invited Lecture - Prof. Rory Johnson (University College Dublin, IE)
"RIBOncology: Targeting Regulatory RNAs in Cancer"
12:00 - 12:15. "Harnessing RNA interference to target GSK-3β and miR-34a-5p in lung adenocarcinoma: toward next-generation RNA therapeutics,"
Rosita Di Palma, University of Naples, Italy
12:15 - 12:30. "Phage Display-Derived Peptides for RNA-Centric Profiling of Tumor Extracellular Vesicle Subpopulations,"
Elisabetta Pingitore, University of Catanzaro, Italy
12:30 - 12:45. "mRNA-based modulation of Bile acid-CoA:amino acid N-acyltransferase (BAAT) as a novel strategy in colorectal cancer,"
Paola De Ciccio, University of Naples, Italy
12:45 - 13:15. Flash presentations
"Targeting CD105 Through Inhaled siRNA Delivery: A Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Pulmonary Fibrosis,"
Erika Esposito, University of Naples, Italy
"Deciphering RNA Recognition by Musashi-1 for Protein and RNA Design"
Pasquale Russomanno, University of Florence and CIRMMP, Italy
"Natural and engineered microRNA delivery systems in neuro-cutaneous signalling"
Nico Cavallo, University of Naples, Italy
Sponsor Talk - BUCHI Ltd

13:30 - 14:45. Official Group Photo - Lunch & Poster Session

Session 2. Delivery Challenges for RNA Therapeutics

Chairs: C. Müller-Goymann and F. Ungaro

14:45 - 15:30. Plenary Lecture - Prof. Raymond Schiffelers (UMC Utrecht, NL)
"RNA-Enabled DNA Therapy: Targeted Lipid Nanoparticles for In Vivo CAR-T"
15:30 - 15:45. "The NanoTher Lab: engineering poly(β-amino ester) nanoparticles for controlled RNA delivery across physiological barriers,"
Cristina Fornaguera, Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS), Universitat Ramon Llull, Spain
15:45 - 16:00. "Engineered polymeric nanoparticles for the selective targeting siRNA to solid tumors,"
Claudia Conte, University of Naples, Italy
16:00 - 16:30. Coffee break
Chairs: R. Johnson and S. Salmaso
16:30 - 16:45. "Hybrid nanoparticles for targeted cardiac regeneration via microRNA delivery,"
Francesco Schiavone, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
16:45 - 17:00. "Lipid self-assembling nanoparticles towards novel mRNA-based vaccines,"
Valeria Nele, University of Naples, Italy
17:00 - 17:15. "Composition-Morphology-Activity Relations in LNPs for mRNA Delivery,"
Tommaso Tedeschini, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy
17:15 - 17:30. "Evaluation of hydrogels of various crosslinking mechanism for the sustained release of lipid nanoparticles,"
Andreas G. Schreibers, University of Regensburg, Germany
17:30 - 18:00. Flash presentations
Chair: C. Conte
"Calcium phosphate nanoparticles enable efficient delivery of therapeutic siRNA for cardiac gene silencing,"
Camilla Fusacchia, ISSMC, CNR, Italy
"Non-viral delivery strategies for CRISPR editors: mRNA and RNP approaches,"
Alessandro Anderlini, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
"Self-Assembled Multifunctional Peptide Nanofibers in Gene Therapy,"
Sara Palladino, University of Naples, Italy
" Inhalable Pullulan-based nanocarriers for efficient pulmonary siRNA delivery and gene silencing,"
Sofia Bonsignore, University of Palermo, Italy

19:30. Social Dinner at the Hotel Royal Continental

May 19, 2026 (Day 2)

9:00. Welcome

Session 3. Therapeutic Applications Beyond the Liver

Chairs: S. Hedtrich and I. d'Angelo

9:15 - 9:45. Invited Lecture - Prof. Paolo Decuzzi (IIT, IT & Stanford University, USA)
"Strategies for the Delivery of Synergistic microRNA in Human Glioblastoma"
9:45 - 10:00. "Design of a Multifunctional Inulin-Based Nanoplatform for siRNA Pulmonary Delivery,"
Salvatore E. Drago, University of Palermo, Italy
10:00 - 10:15. "RNAi-Powered Magnetic Nanoparticles to Disarm Drug-Resistant Tumors,"
Prajakta Tambe, International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (IINL), Portugal
10:15 - 10:30. "Design and characterization of mucin-based protein nanoparticles for nucleic acid encapsulation,"
Sonja Visentin, University of Turin, Italy
10:30 - 11:00. Invited Lecture - Prof. Olivia M. Merkel (LMU Munich, Germany)
"From Molecular Dynamics to Materials: AI-Guided Pulmonary RNA Delivery"
11:00 - 11:30. Coffee break

Session 4. Manufacturing Challenges

Chairs: R. Schiffelers and T. Moore

11:30 - 12:00. Invited Lecture - Prof. Giovanni Tosi (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, IT)
"Shaping Nanomedicine: How to Move Faster and Better?"
12:00 - 12:15. "NanoPULSE: A Scalable Micromixing Platform for Robust RNA-LNP Formulation Across All Scales,"
Robin Oliveres, Inside Therapeutics, France
12:15 - 12:30. "Advancing RNA Quantification in Nanoparticle Formulations through Scatter-Free UV-Vis Spectroscopy,"
Albert Grau Carbonell, Marama Labs Limited, Ireland
12:30 - 12:45. "Impact of dsRNA on cellular viability and reduction of dsRNA in in vitro transcribed mRNA via enzymatic optimization and polishing,"
Nicolò Sacchetti, Aldevron, ND, USA
12:45 - 13:20. Flash presentations
"Microfluidic engineering of platelet membrane protein-functionalized lipid nanoparticles for advanced RNA therapeutics,"
Erwin P. Lamparelli, University of Salerno, Italy
"From Bench to Microfluidics: Scalable Production of Functional siRNA-Loaded Lipid@PLGA Hybrid Nanoparticles,"
Ersilia Villano, University of Naples, Italy
"Integrating Experimental and Computational Approaches in the Design of pBAE Nanoparticles,"
Anna Clua, Universitat Ramon Llull (URL), Spain
"High-throughput formulation screening to identify functional LNPs for mRNA delivery to human primary lung cells,"
Teresa Ferrillo, University of Naples, Italy
Sponsor Talk - Alfatest s.r.l.

13:30 - 14:30. Light Lunch & Poster Session

Session 5. Advanced Models for RNA Therapeutics Validation

Chairs: G. De Rosa and G. Tosi

14:30 - 15:00. Invited Lecture - Prof. Sarah Hedtrich (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CA)
"Local Gene Therapies to Reduce Genetic Diseases of the Skin and Lungs"
15:00 - 15:15. "Targeting glioblastoma via L-amino acid transporters using amino acid-guided nanomedicines as potential carriers for RNA therapeutics,"
Claudia Martins, University of Porto, Portugal
15:15 - 15:30. "Engineering hybrid extracellular vesicle nanocarriers for siRNA-mediated targeting of IL-3 in triple-negative breast cancer using a zebrafish model,"
Maria F. Brizzi, University of Turin, Italy
15:30 - 16:15. Flash presentations
Chair: T. Silvestri
"Nonclinical evaluation of cardiac and off-target safety of an acutely administered nanoformulated small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting RyR2 mRNA,"
Federica Comella, University of Naples, Italy
"Mitigating Pre-analytical Variability: An Automated Manufacturing Platform for Standardized EV-based Liquid Biopsy,"
Annarita Scardamaglia, University of Catanzaro, Italy
"Lipid self-assembling nanoparticles for Efficient CRISPR/CAS9-Based Editing,"
Alessia Angelillo, University of Naples, Italy
"Inhalable Chitosan nanoparticles for pulmonary RNA delivery: Impact of Chitosan structural organization,"
Andrea Casale, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Italy