Benjamin (ben) Aaron Garcia PhD, FRSC

Benjamin A.Garcia, Ph.D., an expert in quantitative proteomics and Presidential Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the Biemann Medal by the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS). The early-career award recognizes significant achievement in basic or applied mass spectrometry.

Garcia’s lab has developed and refined mass spectrometry analysis techniques for analyzing proteins that are considered state of the art and used worldwide by researchers. Proteins, modifications to them, and their various forms are the driving forces of cellular machinery that control crucial physiological events. Garcia was recognized for contributions to a better understanding of the histone code, the set of modifications in histone proteins that are crucial for regulating gene expression. In humans and other animals, histones function as spools for the thread-like DNA to wrap itself around. They play a key role in normal cell division, which is essential for life, but they also are involved in cellular development and drive certain cancers. Most proteins undergo modification once they are translated, and these modifications dictate their cellular functions.