Lisa Opsomer
Postdoc University of British Columbia
After obtaining her M.Sc. from Ghent University in 2020, Dr. Lisa Opsomer shifted her focus from pharmaceutical sciences to biochemistry and biomedicine. Her doctoral research focused on intracellular saRNA delivery and stability using novel polymeric carriers, which led to multiple publications. In 2025, she completed her PhD and joined the Blakney Lab at UBC as a postdoctoral fellow, where she is developing novel saRNA platforms to advance treatments across diverse disease areas, starting with prostate cancer.
Seminars
Repeat-dose RNA therapeutics require careful engineering to reduce innate activation, expand the therapeutic window and support multi-dose regimens. This workshop provides a clear framework for understanding immunogenicity drivers, designing for tolerability and aligning dosing strategies with long-term clinical needs.
This workshop will gather experts to discuss:
- Reduce reactogenicity and strengthen safety margins by pinpointing innate immune activation pathways and integrating immunology, delivery, and regulatory considerations early in development
- Strategies to improve the potency of saRNA to drive lowered dosing and maximize the therapeutic window
- Differentiate the role of RNA design versus formulation and delivery in maximizing potency, durability, and dose efficiency
- Enable multi-cycle regimens by structuring redose-ready delivery and dosing strategies across diverse tissues and indications
This workshop is for:
Teams developing therapeutic RNA programs who need to overcome dose ceilings and enable safe, reliable redosing in autoimmune, oncology, neuromuscular or CNS applications
- Deliver 30-day liver expression after IV administration for the first time by integrating RNA engineering with advanced formulation strategies to overcome historic expression failure in hepatic tissues
- Unlock therapeutic feasibility for saRNA-based protein replacement by matching the durability of viral systems without relying on genome integration or high-dose repeat administration
- Reveal mechanistic and translational insights from optimizing saRNA constructs to guide the next wave of durable, redose-ready therapeutic applications beyond vaccines
