Webinar Details
Title: Immune ResponsesThe body's natural defense system reacting to substances it sees as foreign, including treatments li... More to AAVA harmless virus commonly used as a delivery system in gene therapy to carry healthy genes into cell... More Gene TherapyA developing treatment that aims to fix, replace, or add genetic instructions. More: Challenges and Emerging Solutions
Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026
Speaker:
Abigail Benkert, MD
Webinar Overview:
Immune responses to AAV gene therapy remain a major barrier to its access and effectiveness. This talk will highlight key immune challenges and emerging strategies to overcome them, including antibody-cleaving enzymes and novel capsids designed to evade pre-existing immunity.
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Speaker Biography
Abigail Benkert, MD
Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident, Duke University Medical Center
Abigail Benkert, MD is a cardiothoracic surgery resident at Duke University Medical Center and a research fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Aravind Asokan. Her research focuses on developing adeno-associated viral (AAVA harmless virus commonly used as a delivery system in gene therapy to carry healthy genes into cell... More) gene therapies for inherited cardiomyopathies. She also collaborates on projects exploring RNA editing technologies and immune responsesThe body's natural defense system reacting to substances it sees as foreign, including treatments li... More to AAVA harmless virus commonly used as a delivery system in gene therapy to carry healthy genes into cell... More vectors. Prior to joining the Asokan laboratory, Dr. Benkert conducted research at the Clinic for Special Children, where she studied rare inherited diseases in Amish and Mennonite founder populations. Her work spans human genetics, viral vectorA delivery system, often based on a modified virus, used to carry genetic material into cells. More engineering, and translational therapeutics, and she aims to build a translational research program dedicated to developing genetic treatments for inherited cardiovascular disease.