Dr. Baldridge focuses on a cellular process called endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD), a system involved in recognition, transport and degradation of regulated and misfolded proteins. ERAD plays a role in cancer processes, in some instances by regulating the levels of proteins involved in tumor growth and metastasis. In other cases ERAD is upregulated to relieve ER stress caused by tumor growth. His goal is to understand how the ERAD system recognizes target proteins at the ER, transports them across the ER membrane to the cytosol, and ubiquitinates them prior to proteasomal degradation.