Beyond Cancer Spotlight: Claudia Benavente

Claudia Benavente, PhD (she/her) is an Associate Professor at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the recently appointed Deputy Associate Director for CRTEC. Read on to learn more about her story. 

1. What are your career/research interests?

Research in my lab is centered on the identification of therapeutic vulnerabilities in cancers that frequently mutate a tumor suppressor called the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene or "RB1". We have a particular interest in solid tumors that afflict children and young adults and aggressive adult cancers including triple negative breast cancer and small cell lung cancer.

2. How did your early life experiences shape your education and career choices?

Social disparities is something that has bothered me since I was young. In particular, having grown up in a developing country (Ecuador), healthcare disparities disturbed me the most. I grew up wanting to help people and alleviate their pain and suffering, so my plan since a very young age has been to work towards finding cures to healthcare problems. For a while I thought I would become a physician, until I learned that scientists are at the forefront of developing new therapies. As a scientist, I could see my path in helping identify novel therapeutics and help simplify and democratize treatments. This was my motivation to pursue a career in science.

3. What brought you to UCI?

UCI presented a unique opportunity to build new things. I had the opportunity of being one of the founding members of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Also, this is an institution where you are constantly hearing about excellence and you can see that excellence is something that we continuously thrive for through nurturing our students and innovative research.

4. What motivates you to serve your community and contribute to the CFCCC mission?

The greatest motivator is knowing that the vision and mission of the CFCCC perfectly aligns with my life goals of helping people by improving their health. To DISCOVER, TEACH, and HEAL is not only the CFCCC mission but the life purpose that I have pursued since a young age.

5. What challenges have you experienced in your professional journey?

Persevering in the face of challenge should be the name of my professional journey. I have had to learn to ignore preconceived notions and expectations for women in society and in science, to overcome financial struggles, to adapt to new countries and cultures, and to learn to thrive speaking a foreign language and with family thousands of miles away.

6. What personal or professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

This happened mostly serendipitously, but thanks to my graduate school experience working in a lab that studied PARP proteins I was able to make sense of results observed by another investigator during my postdoctoral training. Long story short, there are currently phase II clinical trials undergoing testing PARP inhibitors in a childhood cancer called Ewing Sarcoma. During phase I, which is only meant to test for toxicities, one of the patients achieved complete remission! It is still early in the process, but if the following stages of the clinical trials confirm the use of this combination therapy, this it is exactly what every cancer researcher wishes to accomplish during their career.

7. What are your interests/hobbies outside of work? 

There are numerous hobbies that I have rotated through the years. Perhaps the one that remains constant is traveling to experience the different cultures. I also maintain an artistic hobby, which currently is making stained glass art.

8. What is a fun or random fact about you? 

While I have tried playing almost every sport, the one physical activity that I absolutely hate is running. If you see me running, you should run along with me because I most definitely am running away from something. I only run for a good cause, and my once a year good cause is running the 5K for the Anti-Cancer Challenge. 

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