Dr. Mikhail Berezin, Chair of this year’s award jury, has announced the winner of the 202 St Louis Section ACS Award: Dr. Benjamin Garcia, Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Chemistry at Washington University Medical School.
Prof. Garcia obtained his BS in Chemistry at UC Davis in 2000, working with Prof. Carlito Lebrilla followed by a PhD in Chemistry in 2005 at the University of Virginia working under Prof. Donald Hunt. After completing an NIH postdoctoral Fellowship with Prof. Neil Kelleher at the University of Illinois from 2005-2008 he joined the Molecular Biology Department at Princeton University. In 2012 he became a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2012 and was promoted to full Professor in 2016 and named the John McCrea Dickson M.D. Presidential Professor in 2017. In 2021 he moved the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to become the Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics.
The Garcia lab has been developing and applying state-of-the-art mass spectrometry based proteomic approaches and computation for interrogating protein modifications, especially those involved in epigenetic mechanisms such as histones during human disease. One of the Garcia lab’s most significant contributions has been the development of novel MS based methods coupled with metabolomic labeling for the meticulous high-throughput tracking of hundreds of combinatorial histone modifications in a single experiment which has helped elucidate the mechanisms of various human diseases, cancer progression and developmental disorders. His research has also demonstrated links between the gut microbiome and histone acetylation, revealing how microbial metabolites influence epigenetic regulation through nutrient metabolism. Ben has over 450 publications, 110 of which were published since his move to St. Louis in 2021, and which have been cited over 59,000 times.
Prof. Garcia has been recognized with many honors for his mass spectrometry research including the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Research Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the PITTCON Achievement Award, the ASMS Biemann Medal and the Eastern Analytical Symposium Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry Award. He has also been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2020), the American Chemical Society (2024) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS (2025). Ben currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Proteome Research, the Molecular and Cellular Proteomics journal and Molecular Omics journal and is an Associate Editor for both the Analytical Chemistry, and for Mass Spectrometry Reviews journals. He is the President-Elect of U.S. Human Proteome Organization (US HUPO), and in 2024, was elected as Chair of the ACS Analytical Chemistry Division (ANYL). Additionally, he has served on many professional society committees and many NIH, NSF and other grant review panels. Ben has also devoted significant efforts to mentor, promote and support younger, underrepresented and historically marginalized scientists. He is currently the Co-Chair of the DEIR committee for the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry, and is a member of the ACS Committee on Minority Affairs. He serves as a mentor for the ACS Connects student program, and a mentor for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) MOSAIC junior faculty program. For all of his diversity efforts, he has been awarded the ASBMB Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award, the ASMS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Mentorship Award, named an Analytical Scientist Leader and Advocate, and was recently included in the Atlas of Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientists as well.