Benjamin L. Prosser, Ph.D.

Publications

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/benjamin.prosser.1/bibliography/public/

0000-0003-3696-9131

Background and CV Highlights

Dr. Benjamin (Ben) Prosser is an Associate Professor of Physiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.  He earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine under Dr. Martin Schneider at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2009, and then completed his post-doc in Molecular Cardiology under Dr. Jon Lederer at Maryland in 2013.  Dr. Prosser started his own group at the University of Pennsylvania in 2014 with a focus on cardiac mechanobiology and was named the Outstanding Early Career Investigator by the American Heart Association in 2017.  In 2020, he became Associate Director of the historic Pennsylvania Muscle Institute as well as lead coordinator of a Leducq Trans-Atlantic Network of Excellence – an international consortium of researchers investigating the role of the cytoskeleton in cardiac remodeling and heart failure.  The Prosser Lab is broadly interested in the cytoskeletal and nuclear mechanobiology of the heart, with a particular focus on the cardiac microtubule network.  Dr. Prosser was named a fellow of the International Society of Heart Research (ISHR) in 2021 and the ISHR Outstanding Investigator for 2022.

In 2018, Dr. Prosser’s daughter Lucy was born and diagnosed with STXBP1 encephalopathy, a rare, genetic neurodevelopmental disorder.  Dr. Prosser started a separate research arm in his lab focused on developing new therapies for STXBP1 and related disorders. This work ultimately spurred the formation of the Center for Epilepsy and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ENDD), which Dr. Prosser directs with his colleagues Drs. Beverly Davidson and Ingo Helbig of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).  ENDD represents a cross-institute, interdisciplinary collaboration of fundamental, translational, and clinical researchers focused on developing genetic therapies for STXBP1, SYNGAP1, and related neurodevelopmental disorders.

Hometown:

Baltimore, MD (home of more than just “The Wire”, and GO RAVENS)

Education

2005 – B.S. Honors in Biomechanics, Wake Forest University

2009 – Ph.D Molecular Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Faculty Appointments

2014-              Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.

2019-              Associate Director, Pennsylvania Muscle Institute, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.

2021-              Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.

Select Honors

2011               Outstanding Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Year. University of Maryland School of Medicine

2017               Linda Montague Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award – Penn Medicine

2017               American Heart Association (AHA) Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award – BCVS

2017               Rising Star Award – Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont

2018               Alumnus of the Year – University of Maryland School of Medicine

2021               Fellow – International Society of Heart Research (ISHR)

2022               Chair-Elect, Gordon Research Conference “Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms”

2022               Outstanding Investigator Award, International Society of Heart Research (ISHR)

Professional Memberships

2006-              Member, Biophysical Society

2012-              Member, Cardiac Muscle Society

2016-              Member, American Heart Association (AHA)

2019-              Member, Scientific Advisory Board, STXBP1 Foundation

2021-              Member, Scientific Advisory Board, SYNGAP Research Fund