Aravind Asokan

Professor in Surgery

Synthetic Virology & Gene Therapy

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Professor in Surgery
  • Director of Gene Therapy
  • Professor of Biomedical Engineering
  • Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
  • Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center

Contact Information

Education

  • Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2004

Research Interests

Virology
RNA Biology
Viral Engineering
RNA Engineering
Gene Therapy
Gene Editing
Gene Regulation
Regenerative Medicine

Courses Taught

  • MGM 593: Research Independent Study
  • BME 792: Continuation of Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 791: Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Roger, Angela L., Lea El Haddad, Meredith L. Huston, Sean Kehoe, Davina Le, Mainur Khan, Evelyn Scarrow, et al. “GAA replacement improves respiratory muscle, neural, and alveolar pathology in the pompe mouse.” Respir Physiol Neurobiol 335 (July 2025): 104433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resp.2025.104433.
  • Yadav, Alka, Rich Liang, Kelly Press, Annika Schmidt, Zahra Shabani, Kun Leng, Calvin Wang, et al. “Evaluation of AAV Capsids and Delivery Approaches for Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia Gene Therapy.” Transl Stroke Res 16, no. 3 (June 2025): 914–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12975-024-01275-4.
  • Perelli, Robin M., Madeleine J. Sitton, Joel D. Bohning, Adrian Pickar-Oliver, K Tyler McCullough, Mary E. Moya-Mendez, Scott Zheng, et al. “Deletion of Exon 51 in a Humanized Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Mouse Model Abolishes Ventricular Arrhythmia Predisposition.” Circ Genom Precis Med, April 10, 2025, e004867. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCGEN.124.004867.
  • Asokan, Aravind, and Matthew H. Wilson. “Filtering through AAV capsid libraries for effective kidney gene transfer.” Kidney Int 107, no. 4 (April 2025): 591–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2024.12.012.
  • Cheng, Ming, Demitri de la Cruz, Adam V. Crain, Paula Espinoza, Carrie Ng, Zachary C. Elmore, Aravind Asokan, and Casey A. Maguire. “Probing aspects of extracellular vesicle associated AAV allows increased vector yield and insight into its transduction and immune-evasive properties.” Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev 33, no. 1 (March 13, 2025): 101407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2025.101407.