Lab Members

Meet The Lab Members

The Bennett lab interrogates mechanisms that regulate proteostasis – the intricate balance between protein synthesis, folding, and degradation within the cell. We seek to leverage regulatory principles to predictably alter proteostasis function to improve tissue function and promote health aging.

Dr. Bennett is a molecular and cellular biologist with expertise in proteostasis mechanisms. His research focuses on identifying and characterizing proteostasis mechanisms that can be leveraged to combat aging associated disorders. Research in the Bennett lab investigates mechanisms of proteostasis dysregulation in stem cells, immune cells, and neurons. To accomplish research goals, the Bennett lab develops and utilizes quantitative proteomics approaches to define alterations in both the proteome and protein interaction upon cell stress and aging. Dr. Bennett earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University and trained as a Damon Runyon Cancer Researcher Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Bennett is currently a Professor at UCSD. Research excellence in the Bennett lab has been recognized through a Sidney Kimmel Foundation Scholar Award, an Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award in Aging, and a New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Xuezhen Ge is an Assistant Project Scientist in the Bennett lab. His research investigates how quality control ubiquitin ligases target structurally distinct substrates to enhance cellular fitness. He leads efforts to develop and employ quantitative proteomic workflows to allow for a deeper investigation of proteome changes from rare cell populations. He also develops bioinformatics pipelines for omics data visualization and exploration. Prior to joining the Bennett Lab, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, where his research explored how molecular chaperone networks are differentially rewired to disassemble amorphous and amyloid aggregates.

Amanda (AJ) Daniels is a Ph.D. student in the Biomedical Sciences Program at UCSD. She is co-mentored in the labs of Dr. Robert Signer and Dr. Eric Bennett. Her research focuses on the role of translation fidelity in the regulation of hematopoietic stem cell proteostasis, self-renewal, and longevity. Prior to joining the Signer and Bennett Labs, AJ studied the role of Hspa1a in lipid homeostasis. AJ earned her M.S. in Biological Sciences from California State University Fullerton and her B.S. in Biology from the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau.

Pierce Ford is a Ph.D. student in the Biological Sciences Program at UCSD. His research focuses on a ribosome quality control pathway that specifically targets small ribosomal subunits for degradation during translation initiation stress. Prior to joining the Bennett Lab, Pierce studied transcription factor regulatory networks in the seed coats and suspensors of soybeans and scarlet runner beans. Pierce earned his B.S. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from the University of California Los Angeles.

Dr. Jiang is a Postdoctoral researcher at UCSD. His research focuses on developing analytical approaches to study protein regulation, with a particular interest in ubiquitin ligases and protein homeostasis. He has expertise in developing quantitative proteomic approaches to investigate a wide range of biology with a particular focus on ubiquitin ligase substrate identification. He is also a fellow of the Goeddel Family Technology Sandbox at UCSD, contributing to proteomics workflow development and application that empowers scientific discovery across UCSD. He earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Sun Yat-sen University in China, where his work involved quantitative mass spectrometry of drugs and proteins.

Bianca Do is an undergraduate student majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology at UCSD. She plans to attend medical school upon completing her degree. She assists with lab maintenance and has contributed to projects investigating translation fidelity. When she’s not in the lab or studying in Geisel Library, Bianca can be found volunteering, reading, convincing her friends to get a sweet treat, or telling some poor soul corny jokes.

Parinaz is the Lab Manager and Staff Research Associate in the Bennett Lab. Her research investigates mechanisms that regulate overall translation capacity. The mechanisms are employed by a variety of cell types, like stem cells, that require the ability to rapidly increase translation activity on demand. Prior to working at UCSD, she conducted research at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute studying immune cell contributions to melanoma progression and metastasis. She has also worked in developmental neurobiology at the University of Maryland and in photoreceptor biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She holds M.S. degrees in Animal Science (University of Maryland) and Genetics and Molecular Biology (Tarbiat Modares University), and a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology (Azad University).

Caesar Andre De La Fuente Flores De Loza Mendoza is a Ph.D. student in the Biological Science Ph.D. program at UCSD. He previously worked as a Staff Research Associate for two years in the Bennett lab. His research focuses on defining molecular strategies to alter mRNA translation fidelity in human cells. Before joining the Bennett lab, Caesar worked as an evolutionary biologist studying arms-race dynamics and speciation in bacteria and viruses. Caesar earned his B.S. in Human Biology and an M.S. in Biological Sciences from UCSD.

Dr. Viswanathan is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at UCSD in the Bennett Lab. Her current research investigates how translational fidelity impacts aging. Prior to joining the lab, she completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences with a specialization in Neuroscience at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where she studied the unfolded protein response. She received her M.S. in Neuroscience from the University at Buffalo, where she investigated the role of E3 ubiquitin ligases in synaptic plasticity following cocaine exposure, and her B.Tech. in Biotechnology from SRM University in India.

Join Our Research Team

The Bennett Lab welcomes motivated students and researchers interested in exploring the biology of aging and protein homeostasis. We offer opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and collaborators who are passionate about advancing scientific knowledge.