Frederick Christian Bennett, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Member, Translational Center of Excellence for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Engineering
Member, Institute for Immunology and Immune Health
Associate Member, Abramson Cancer Center
Department: Psychiatry
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
3501 Civic Center
Rm 6026
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Rm 6026
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 2157467275
Publications
Education:
B.S. (Biology, Magna cum Laude)
Haverford College, 2003.
M.D.
Stanford University School of Medicine, 2011.
Permanent linkB.S. (Biology, Magna cum Laude)
Haverford College, 2003.
M.D.
Stanford University School of Medicine, 2011.
Description of Research Expertise
Research Interests: Role of microglia in brain health and diseaseKeywords: microglia, glia, macrophages, inflammation, neuroinflammation
Research Summary: Our laboratory studies microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells. These mysterious cells play important roles in brain health and disease, but are poorly understood. We focus primarily on two related questions: 1) What are the environmental signals and intrinsic properties that govern microglial function? 2) How do these signals and properties contribute to brain health and disease? To answer these questions, we have developed tools to transplant microglia and other macrophages (including from humans) into the rodent brain, allowing dissection of environmental versus cell intrinsic factors controlling microglial function in health and disease. In parallel, we are adopting brain macrophage transplantation for therapeutic use.
Personal lab webpage: www.fcblab.org
Rotation Projects: We attempt to design rotation projects customized to the lab's current trajectory and student interest. Please feel welcome to contact Dr. Bennett by email to discuss current project opportunities.
Selected Publications
Touil H, Li R, Zuroff L, Moore CS, Healy L, Cignarella F, Piccio L, Ludwin S, Prat A, Gommerman J, Bennett FC, Jacobs D, Benjamins JA, Lisak RP, Antel JP, Bar-Or A: Cross-talk between B cells, microglia and macrophages, and implications to central nervous system compartmentalized inflammation and progressive multiple sclerosis. EBioMedicine 96(104789), October 2023.Salimando GJ, Tremblay S, Kimmey BA, Li J, Rogers SA, Wojick JA, McCall NM, Wooldridge LM, Rodrigues A, Borner T, Gardiner KL, Jayakar SS, Singeç I, Woolf CJ, Hayes MR, De Jonghe BC, Bennett FC, Bennett ML, Blendy JA, Platt ML, Creasy KT, Renthal WR, Ramakrishnan C, Deisseroth K, Corder G: Human OPRM1 and murine Oprm1 promoter driven viral constructs for genetic access to μ-opioidergic cell types. Nature Communications 14: 5632, September 2023.
Palanki R, Bose SK, Dave A, White BM, Berkowitz C, Luks V, Yaqoob F, Han E, Swingle KL, Menon P, Hodgson E, Biswas A, Billingsley MM, Li L, Yiping F, Carpenter M, Trokhan A, Yeo J, Johana N, Wan TY, Alameh MG, Bennett FC, Storm PB, Jain R, Chan J, Weissman D, Mitchell MJ, Peranteau WH: Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticles for Therapeutic Base Editing of Congenital Brain Disease. ACS Nano 17, July 2023.
Chadarevian JP, Davtyan H, Lombroso SI, Bennett FC, Blurton-Jones M: CRISPR generation of CSF1R-G795A human microglia for robust microglia replacement in a chimeric mouse model. STAR Protocols 4: 102490, July 2023.
Schneider KM, Blank N, Alvarez Y, Thum K, Lundgren P, Litichevskiy L, Sleeman M, Bahnsen K, Kim J, Kardo S, Patel S, Dohnalová L, Uhr GT, Descamps HC, Kircher S, McSween AM, Ardabili AR, Nemec KM, Jimenez MT, Glotfelty LG, Eisenberg JD, Furth EE, Henao-Mejia J, Bennett FC, Pierik MJ, Romberg-Camps M, Mujagic Z, Prinz M, Schneider CV, Wherry EJ, Bewtra M, Heuckeroth RO, Levy M, Thaiss CA: The enteric nervous system relays psychological stress to intestinal inflammation. Cell 186, June 2023.
Hasel P, Aisenberg WH, Bennett FC, Liddelow SA: Molecular and metabolic heterogeneity of astrocytes and microglia. Cell Metabolism 35, April 2023.
Chadarevian JP, Lombroso SI, Peet GC, Hasselmann J, Tu C, Marzan DE, Capocchi J, Purnell FS, Nemec KM, Lahian A, Escobar A, England W, Chaluvadi S, O'Brien CA, Yaqoob F, Aisenberg WH, Porras-Paniagua M, Bennett ML, Davtyan H, Spitale RC, Blurton-Jones M, Bennett FC: Engineering an inhibitor-resistant human CSF1R variant for microglia replacement. JEM 220, March 2023.
O'Brien CA, Bennett FC: Perivascular signals drive microglial appetite. Nature Neuroscience 2023.
O'Brien C, Bennett FC: Neonatal transplantation of bone marrow-derived macrophages rescues repopulation-induced seizure severity. European Macrophage and Dendritic Cell Society, Annual Meeting 2023.
Lombroso S, Bennett FC: Discovering regulators of macrophage identity in the brain. Eurpoean Macrophage and Dendritic Cell Society Annual meeting 2023.