Biomedicines Webinar | Non-Coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in Cancer
2 September 2025
Welcome from the Chair
17th Biomedicines Webinar
Non-Coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in Cancer
Non-coding RNAs comprise several categories, such as ribosomal and transfer RNAs, small nuclear and nucleolar RNAs, microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, circular RNAs, etc. microRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded, small non-coding RNA molecules that epigenetically regulate gene expression, mostly through binding to the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of targeted messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules. Hence, they can mediate translational repression, usually combined with or followed by mRNA degradation. The human genome can produce more than a thousand different miRNAs, which regulate approximately 70% of protein-coding genes, thereby controlling the activity and function of key signaling pathways and cellular processes. These include cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell differentiation, and response to hypoxia. Additionally, miRNAs can function either as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. However, during the last decade, it has emerged that mutations and the dysregulation of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) expression may significantly contribute to numerous human diseases. Alterations in the primary structure, secondary structure, and expression levels of lncRNAs and their cognate RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have been shown to underlie the pathobiology of cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. As recent studies have suggested, the involvement of lncRNAs in human diseases could be far more prevalent than previously thought. From a clinical perspective, some miRNAs and lncRNAs can also serve as molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets for several human diseases.
This webinar will focus on the role of non-coding RNAs in cancer biology and their clinical applications as molecular cancer biomarkers, with an emphasis on miRNAs and lncRNAs.
Date: 2 September 2025
Time: 3:00 pm CEST | 9:00 am EDT | 9:00 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 853 2133 1321
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Event Chair
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Christos K. Kontos is a tenured Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Athens, Greece). His research interests include alternative splicing of pre-messenger RNA, circRNA biology, tRNA fragments, cancer biomarkers, the efficacy of novel anticancer agents, and the development of novel strategies for analyzing transcriptomes using high-throughput sequencing. He is an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and a reviewer for high-impact scientific journals. To date, he has published 110 publications in international, peer-reviewed scientific journals, with more than >3,200 citations (h-index = 34).
Keynote Speakers
Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dr. Ioana is an experienced Professor of Immunology and Medical Biotechnology and has extensive management experience as Director of three research centers in the field of oncology and translational medicine. Ioana is a Fulbright Fellow at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Visiting Professor at the same institution. Ioana has completed entrepreneurial activity within the university and has a demonstrated history of working in the research industry. Ioana is skilled in oncology, immunology, drug discovery, translational medicine, molecular biology including NGS, microarray, CRISPR, qRT-PCR, animal models, and analytical skills. Ioana completed a Ph.D. focused on immunology, molecular biology, cancer, and genomics from the school. Ioana's research interests are in cancer genomics, proteomics, and drug discovery, with more than 250 publications in the field. Ioana has excellent experience in building and managing research centers in translational medicine with focuses on cancer, drug discovery and drug repositioning, and cancer therapy.
Dr. Mona Batish is an Associate Professor at the University of Delaware. She received her Bachelor of Science with Honors from Panjab University, Chandigarh, India in 2003, and her Masters of Science with Honors from the same university in 2005. In 2011, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (now Rutgers University), where she specialized in cell and molecular biology. She was awarded the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (EIA) in 2012, which allowed her to establish her own laboratory. Since then, she has been conducting research on different RNA species and their role in various cellular processes. Her current research focuses on the processing, localization, and function of both coding and noncoding RNAs in health and diseases. She specializes in using single-molecule RNA imaging and a combination of molecular and biochemical tools to understand gene expression regulation and to develop novel diagnostic assays for Ewing’s Sarcoma, a pediatric bone cancer, using different RNA species as biomarkers.
School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Dr. Margaritis Avgeris is an Associate Professor at the Laboraroty of Clinical Biochemistry - Molecular Diagnostics, Schoof of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Athens, Greece). His research interests include the study of the biology and clinical value of non-coding RNAs, epigenetic modifications and cell-free DNA in several pathological conditions. He has extensive experience on the application of modern Molecular Biology and Diagnostics techniques, including NGS (RNA-seq, small RNA-seq, DNA-seq, methyl-seq), as well as in biostatistics. He has >85 publications, in high-impact journals, including Nature Medicine, Annals of Oncology and EMBO Reports. His work has >2,900 citations and an h-index: 29. Dr. Avgeris is the inventor of 2 patents.
Department of Medical Biology, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Dr. Nikolay Mehterov is an Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Biology at Medical University of Plovdiv (Bulgaria). Nikolay Mehterov graduated from the University of Plovdiv “Paisii Hilendarski” with a master's degree in molecular biology and holds a PhD degree in molecular biology. He is a visiting scientist in research centers in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Romania, and Italy. His research interests include the identification of new miRNAs/lncRNAs and their targets in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and functional studies of miRNAs in HNSCC cell lines.
School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Dr. Sotirios G. Papageorgiou is an Assistant Professor at the Hematology Division and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit of the Second Department of Internal Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens School of Medicine and at the General University Hospital “Attikon” in Athens, Greece. His research interests include the molecular mechanisms, as well as the prognostic biomarkers, of myeloid and lymphoid malignancies. He is a member of the Hellenic Society of Hematology and the European Hematology Association. He has given more than 200 presentations at national and international congresses, and he has published more than 100 original and review articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Registration
This is a FREE webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.
Certificates of attendance will be delivered to those who attend the live webinar.
Can’t attend? Register anyway and we’ll let you know when the recording is available to watch.
Program
|
Speaker |
Presentation Title |
Time in CEST |
Time in EDT |
Time in CST Asia |
|
Dr. Christos K. Kontos |
Chair Introduction |
3:00 - 3:10 pm |
9:00 - 9:10 am |
9:00 - 9:10 pm |
|
Prof. Dr. Ioana Berindan-Neagoe |
Beyond the Genome: Non-Coding RNAs as Regulators in Cancer |
3:10 - 3:30 pm |
9:10 - 9:30 am |
9:10 - 9:30 pm |
| Dr. Mona Batish |
Extracellular Transport of Non-Coding RNAs: Excellent Biomarkers for Cancer Diagnosis |
3:30 - 3:50 pm |
9:30 - 9:50 am |
9:30 - 9:50 pm |
|
Dr. Margaritis Avgeris |
The Role of Non-Coding RNAs in Cancer Biology |
3:50 - 4:10 pm |
9:50 - 10:10 am |
9:50 - 10:10 pm |
|
Dr. Nikolay Mehterov |
Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of MicroRNAs in Head and Neck and Thyroid Cancers |
4:10 - 4:30 pm |
10:10 - 10:30 am |
10:10 - 10:30 pm |
|
Dr. Sotirios G. Papageorgiou |
MicroRNAs in non-Hodgkin Lymphomas: Clinical Implications for Diagnosis and Prognosis |
4:30 - 4:50 pm |
10:30 - 10:50 am |
10:30 - 10:50 pm |
|
Q&A |
4:50 - 5:05 pm |
11:50 - 11:05 am |
11:50 - 11:05 pm |
|
|
Dr. Christos K. Kontos |
Closing of Webinar |
5:05 - 5:10 pm |
11:05 - 11:10 am |
11:05 - 11:10 pm |
Special Issue
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