Claudia Benavente is an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the UC Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Her area of specialization is cancer biology and her research is focused on solid tumors, primarily childhood cancers; however, she is also currently pursuing some research in two very aggressive form of adult solid tumors: triple-negative breast cancer and small cell lung cancer. These cancers all have common genetic mutations that drive tumor formation in their different tissues of origin.
Benavente’s research focus were greatly influenced by growing up in a developing country where she witnessed socioeconomical disparities on a daily basis.
“Cancer has been a major healthcare problem since I have memory,” says Benavente. “Childhood cancers in particular seem so arbitrary; they are seldom associated with ‘lifestyle choices.’ Also, childhood cancers are rare and as a result, the low number of children that are afflicted by the disease means there is very little financial incentive from pharmaceutical companies to drive discoveries that improve the survival and quality of life for these patients. That to me is a form of healthcare disparity that motivates me to study these cancers.”
Since an early age, Benavente wanted to be a doctor to discover new and more economical ways to treat disease with the goal to alleviate human pain and suffering; however, after learning about drug discovery, she adjusted her career path to become a scientist so she could make a positive impact in people’s well-being and health.
“Most of our research has the ultimate goal of improving survival and quality of life of children afflicted with cancer. All those children have mothers whose world has been shaken by their children’s cancer diagnosis. So, by directly improving the health of their children we would indirectly improve the well-being of those mothers,” says Benavente.
Benavente’s lab is currently investigating the therapeutic potential of a novel inhibitor in the most aggressive form of breast cancer: triple-negative breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer accounts for approximately 12% of breast cancers diagnosed in the US and disproportionally affects black women and carriers of germline BRCA and PALB2 mutations (hereditary forms of breast cancer).
“I believe that all humans should have a fair chance to live a long, healthy life. My hope is that the barriers to healthcare access are eliminated to ensure everyone has the same opportunity at life,” says Benavente.
