University of California-San Diego · BiologyBennett Lab
Eric J Bennett · La Jolla, California
Research Focus
Dr. Eric Bennett's lab at UC San Diego focuses on understanding how cells maintain the quality of their proteins, which is critical for health and can impact conditions such as aging and neurodegenerative diseases. They explore the cellular mechanisms that control the production and degradation of proteins, particularly focusing on the role of ubiquitin ligases, which help tag defective proteins for destruction. The goal is to develop strategies that enhance cellular quality control systems to combat diseases linked to protein misfolding and toxicity.
proteostasisprotein quality controlubiquitin ligaseneurodegenerative diseasesaging-related disorders
Research Aims
4AIM 01Investigate how ubiquitin ligases identify and degrade defective proteins.
AIM 02Characterize the mechanisms by which cellular stress affects protein quality control.
AIM 03Develop cellular models to study the role of ribosome-associated QC pathways.
AIM 04Identify strategies to manipulate QC functions to enhance healthspan.
Skills the Lab Values
genome editingcell culturebiochemical assaysprotein purificationCRISPR technology
Output against the department
Publications131bottom 47% of dept.549th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations11ktop 34% of dept.353rd of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.