2026 Gene Therapy and Vaccines Program Retreat
Welcome to our annual gathering!
We are excited to host the 5th annual GTV Retreat at the Inn at Swarthmore
- 10 S Chester Rd, Swarthmore, PA 19081 -
The venue is steps from Septa's Swarthmore station stop on the Media-Wawa line.
Abstract Book (Pennkey protected)
Friday, August 21, 2026
Registration and poster setup
Lobby
Session 1
Jonathan Miner, MD, PhD & Gina Young, PhD - GTV Chair & Vice Chair
Introduction and Welcome Remarks
Nan Zhang, PhD - The Wistar Institute
Leveraging macrophage activation in metastatic ovarian cancer
Madison Sangster, 4th year - Bennett lab
Engineering synthetic receptors to direct macrophage cell state
Audrey Bochi-Layec, 5th year - Ruella lab
Elimination of pathogenic B cells and autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus using CAR T cells against IGHV4-34 B cell receptor
Lucie Guo, MD, PhD - Department of Ophthalmology
Synthetic biology for ophthalmic gene therapy
Lunch and Poster Blitz
Pick up food in the lobby
Come back to the meeting room for the poster blitz!
Poster Session
Poster Session
Lobby. All presenters should be at their posters for the duration of the session.
Session 2
Elena Kahn, 5th year - Musunuru lab
Correction of a recurrent pathogenic variant in methylmalonic acidemia using adenine base editing
Jackson Bauer, 5th year - Peranteau lab
Base and prime editing to correct the most common non-deletional mutation in alpha thalassemia
Jennifer Orthmann-Murphy, MD, Phd - Department of Neurology
Targeting glial cells for remyelination
Michael Kuckyr, 6th year - Davidson lab
Direct base editing of the HTT repeat mimics protective Huntington's disease alleles attenuating somatic expansion
Ross England, MD, PhD - Department of Pediatrics
Engineering an mRNA vaccine against measles
Jonathan Miner, MD, PhD - Department of Medicine
Precision PROTAC therapy for a genetic disease
Coffee & Snack Break
Coffee & Snack Break
Lobby
Session 3
Melody Tan, 5th year - Ruella and Wherry labs
Cancer-associated Smarca4 mutations augment CD8 T cell responses against infection and cancer
Daniel Shapiro, 5th year - Hunter & Bennett labs
Role of IFN-gamma in maintaining microglial reactivity during resolution of infection
Noah Ford, 4th year - Berger & O'Connor labs
Metabolomic profiling informs nutrient supplementation strategies to mitigate CAR T cell exhaustion
Lauren Olenick, 4th year - Hogan lab
Investigating the role of IL-1 signaling in reactogenicity and immunogenicity of clinical mRNA-LNP vaccines in mice
Keynote Address
Kiran Musunuru, MD, PhD, MPH, ML, MRA
Barry J. Gertz Professor for Translational Research · Co-Director, Orphan Disease Center, Penn Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Director, Genetic and Epigenetic Origins of Disease Program, Penn Cardiovascular Institute
Therapeutic gene editing for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases
Closing Reception
Closing Reception
Lobby