The Chicago RNA Club is a graduate student run organization. We meet quarterly in the Fall, Winter, and Spring alternating locations at: University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Chicago, and Northwestern University. Our meetings consist of four talks plus a cheese & wine reception and dinner.
Contact Information
Northwestern University
Dalton Huey
George Lab
Esther Yoon
(She/Her/Hers)
Carvill lab
University of Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
Club History
The Chicagoland RNA club was founded by Tao Pan, Ira Wool, and Joseph Piccirilli at the University of Chicago in 1995. In early years, the meeting took place at the University of Chicago about once a month with 1-2 speakers and supported by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Over time, the club meeting was expanded first to Northwestern and UIC, and later to include labs from Rosalind Franklin, Purdue, Notre Dame, and Loyola. In the early 2010s, the current format of 3 meetings per year was established with 4 speakers per meeting, and a happy hour and dinner to promote informal interactions and collaborations. Over the years, our RNA club has been supported by the home departments at U. Chicago, Northwestern, and UIC, the RNA Society, the Scaringe Foundation, and by corporate sponsors including Amersham, Dharmacon, Fisher Scientific, NEB, Invitrogen, VWR, and Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT).
Chicago
The land Chicago is built upon was inhabited by three tribes: Miami, Sauk, Fox and Potawatomi. In fact, the word "Chicago" comes from the Miami word, "shikaakwa", which was the name for the smelly onions that grew on the banks of the local river. The French explores translated "shikaakwa" to "checagou," giving us the precursor to "Chicago".
Today, Chicago residents enjoy the smell of deep dish pizza (Giordano's vs. Lou Malnati's), the Chicago hot dog (ketchup is a no-go), and the aromas from the wonderful restaurants spread out around the city (Restaurant Week, anyone?).
In addition to avoiding the winter weather through restaurant exploring, Chicagoans have a plethora of entertainment to choose from: pre-Broadway shows, post-Broadway shows, Drunk Shakespeare, turtle racing, comedy (Zanies vs. Second City), live music (especially jazz), etc.
During the few months of sunshine, people enjoy: the lakefront trail, walking through the museum campus, architecture boat tours, and exploring all the unique neighborhoods Chicago offers!
