FutureNeuro Investigator and University College Dublin Associate Professor Prof Rory Johnson has been awarded a €2.5 million European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant to support research into the therapeutic potential of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). 

The five-year award is among Europe’s most competitive and highly regarded research funding schemes, supporting ambitious, high-risk, high-reward research with the potential to deliver major scientific breakthroughs. 

Tackling the “Sequence-Function Gap”

Prof Johnson’s project, REVOLVER: Directed Evolution to Understand and Engineer Bioactive Long Noncoding RNAs, will pioneer an entirely new approach to understanding and engineering lncRNAs, one of the largest and least understood classes of genes in the human genome. 

Although lncRNAs are increasingly recognised as important in human biology and disease, researchers have struggled to connect lncRNA sequences with their biological functions — a major challenge known as the “sequence–function gap”.  

To address this, the project will develop DELFIN, the first technology that can rapidly evolve lncRNAs inside their natural cellular environment. This will allow researchers to clearly see how changes in lncRNA sequences affect what they do in cells, helping to guide the design of RNA molecules with therapeutic potential. Because the platform can be applied to many RNA types and disease areas, it opens broad opportunities for future RNA‑based treatments. 

Developing Next-Generation RNA Technologies 

As a proof-of-concept for the platform’s translational potential, REVOLVER will initially focus on liver disease, where the team will engineer and test novel hepatoprotective lncRNAs in clinically relevant disease models. 

In the longer term, the technologies developed through the programme could support a new generation of RNA-based medicines across a broad range of diseases, including neurological conditions. 

Professor Rory Johnson, said: 

“Receiving an ERC Advanced Grant is a tremendous honour and an exciting opportunity for my team to pursue a highly ambitious research programme. With REVOLVER, we aim to better understand how long non-coding RNAs function and how we can engineer them for therapeutic benefit. While the project will initially focus on liver disease, the technologies we develop will be broadly applicable across human disease, including brain conditions that are a focus of FutureNeuro research. I am deeply grateful to the ERC for supporting this kind of ambitious, high-risk, high-reward science.” 

FutureNeuro Centre Director Professor David Henshall congratulated Prof Johnson and his team on the achievement: 

“Congratulations to Rory and his team on securing this ERC Advanced Grant. This award recognises Rory’s outstanding scientific leadership and the international significance of his research. REVOLVER has the potential to transform our understanding of long non-coding RNAs and open entirely new opportunities for RNA-based therapeutics. We are delighted to support Rory’s research through FutureNeuro and look forward to the discoveries that will emerge from this exciting project.” 

This achievement reflects FutureNeuro’s commitment to supporting world-leading discovery research that advances understanding of disease biology and accelerates the development of next-generation therapeutics. FutureNeuro congratulates Prof Johnson and his team and looks forward to following the progress of the REVOLVER programme.