Research Theme:
Cellular & Molecular Engineering,Research Interests:
optimization of molecular design and formulation for next-generation RNA vaccines and therapies
Biography:
Dr. Anna Blakney is an Assistant Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and School of Biomedical Engineering at UBC. She received her Bachelor of Science in Chemical & Biological Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Washington. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Imperial College London on the development of molecular and biomaterial engineering strategies for delivery of self-amplifying RNA. Her lab uses bioengineering, molecular biology and immunology approaches to develop the next generation of RNA vaccines and therapies. She is also a passionate science communicator and runs a TikTok channel dedicated to educating the public about RNA biotechnology, which now has 250,000 followers and 18M views.
RESEARCH EXCELLENCE
Our team spans chemical engineering to immunology and focuses on clinically translational RNA medicines. We contributed to the first self-amplifying RNA vaccine (Nature Communications 2020) and developed saRNA vaccines with interferon inhibiting proteins for enhanced protein expression and immune responses (Molecular Therapy 2021). We’ve also devised a method to quantify saRNA copies in samples (Scientific Reports 2023).