Firefly BioWorks Awards Three Frontiers Grants for microRNA Research
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–Firefly BioWorks announced today the awarding of three Firefly Frontiers Grants to leading researchers engaged in pushing the boundaries of microRNA research. The Frontiers Grant, a $10,000 award to be used on the company’s products, is designed to help scientists scale microRNA research from discovery to validation.
Three of the Frontiers Grant winners are: Charles R. Vanderburg, PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Elena Flowers, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and Matthias Hackl, PhD, of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria.
Charles R. Vanderburg, PhD, is Director of the Advanced Tissue Resource Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease. Dr. Vanderburg’s Frontiers Grant project will focus on the use of microRNAs as biomarkers of neurodegenerative disorders. A more detailed description of his project is available here.
Elena Flowers, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiological Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. In her most recent study, supported by the Firefly Frontiers Grant, Prof. Flowers will examine how microRNA expression levels differ between individuals with and without insulin resistance, a known precursor to type 2 diabetes, and how these levels may predict treatment response. Read more about Dr. Flowers and what fascinates her most about microRNAs here.
Matthias Hackl, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Hackl is working to identify microRNAs that can be used as control parameters in large-scale modern bioprocesses. Read more about Dr. Hackl and his experience with microRNA and CHO cells here.
Firefly scientists will work closely with the winners to ensure the capabilities of the FirePlex® platform are fully utilized. FirePlex® miRSelect, the company’s product for microRNA expression analysis, is a cost-effective multiplexed assay that allows up to 68 user-selected microRNAs to be analyzed simultaneously in each sample, typically in a 96-well plate.
Firefly BioWorks will continue to profile the winning applications on its website in the coming months.

