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Christopher Garcia is interested in cell surface receptors and their ligands. Using a range of methodologies, Garcia and his team investigate how ligand recognition and signaling coordinate with the physiology of the cell to determine cell function and fate. In addition to understanding basic aspects of receptor signaling and structural biology, the team is also interested in the creation of novel receptor ligands using protein engineering, and “deorphanization,” or matching of newly discovered receptors to their ligands, using proteomics. A major aim of their work is to synthetically leverage natural biological signaling mechanisms as a path to potential therapeutics.