Dan Garcia

Dan Garcia is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Bioengineering at UCLA. He works in the laboratory of Dr. Chih-Ming Ho, where he is using NEMS and nanofluidic technology to develop the actin muscle protein for a bottom-up/top-down hybrid nanofabrication process to construct two- and three-dimensional nanostructures. This will ultimately facilitate the generation of actin filaments according to a two- or three-dimensional, predesigned layout.

Prior to joining Dr. Ho's group, Garcia conducted immunology research in the laboratory of Dr. Genhong Cheng. Garcia's work helped clarify the interaction between a novel protein, TRAF3-interacting JunN-terminal kinase (JNK)-activating modulator (T3JAM), and tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR)-associated factor 3 (TRAF3), two proteins that play important roles in the CD40 signal transduction pathway. The CD40 signaling pathway plays a role in the adaptive immune response, atherosclerosis, and the body's response to transplants.