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.
October 2020
Ben is elected to the HUPO Executive Committee for a 2-year term as a Member-at-Large.
A manuscript with the Lewis lab (Univ. of Wisconsin) to study H3.3G34W oncohistone mechanisms that drive mesenchymal tumors is published in PNAS.
New publications with the Berger lab (UPenn) to understand the connection of SIRT1 with senescence/aging and to identify epigenetic changes that occur during Alzheimer’s Disease are published in Nature Chemical Biology and Nature Genetics, respectively.
September 2020
Ben has been awarded the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) Discovery in Proteomic Sciences Award.
Collaborations with the Jabado lab (McGill Univ.) and the Van Eyk lab (Cedar Sinai) on the role of the oncohistone mutation G34W in giant cell bone tumors, and to identify protein methylation in a mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) disease are published in Cancer Discovery and Journal of Proteome Research, respectively.