Welcome to the Garcia Lab
“Spectrometry for the Masses”
The Garcia Lab utilizes high-resolution mass spectrometry to explore cellular signaling, epigenetic mechanisms and chromatin regulation. We are especially interested in understanding how protein and nucleic acid modifications mediate their canonical functions and regulate nuclear processes. Mass spectrometry has become an unparalleled tool in the analysis of these biological molecules and allows us to obtain quantitative information about modifications as well as their co-occurrence. These modifications are critical for nuclear stability and transcription; and dysregulation of these pathways underlie several human diseases such as cancer. Our work aims to reveal the roles of these modifications in the cell cycle, proliferation, differentiation, signaling pathways and metabolism, to consequently help elucidate the mechanisms of various diseases. The Garcia Lab is part of the Epigenetics Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics here at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
September 2019
The lab says goodbye to Zuo-Fei, good luck in Memphis!
Ben has been re-elected to the United States Human Proteome Organization (US-HUPO) Board of Directors for another 3-year term.
Simone’s manuscript describing a method to assess chromatin compaction by MS is published in Scientific Reports, congrats!
Our new postdoc Lindsay Pino has arrived, welcome to the Garcia Lab!
Super M has received an NIH NRSA F31 Predoctoral Fellowship, congrats!
Ben has received the Distinguished Lectureship Award from the New Jersey American Chemical Society Mass Spectrometry Discussion Group.
Kevin publishes his work on simultaneous detection and quantification of single and combinatorial histone PTMs using a novel chromatographic approach to perform Bottom Up and Middle Down experiments in a single run in JASMS, congrats!
Collaborations with the Allis lab on the connection between DNA methylation and histone H3K36 methylation, and with the Reinberg lab on understanding the automethylation activity of PRC2 are published in Nature and Genes & Development, respectively.
Ben has been re-elected to the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) governing council (Western region representative) for another 3-year term.
The Garcia Lab welcomes 1st year BMB student Adriana Santiago-Ruiz to the lab for the fall rotation.
August 2019
Yekaterina has been awarded a Blavatnik Family Graduate Fellowship in Biomedical Research, congrats!
Mariel C, Bella and Zuo-Fei present posters at the UPenn Chemistry Biology Interface Symposium, where Mariel was awarded first place.