Research at the Benavente Lab is helping advance our knowledge of cancer to develop novel therapeutics to eradicate these diseases, with special emphasis on rare childhood solid tumors. Our research is focused on understanding the chromatin remodeling processes regulated by the RB transcriptional corepressor 1 (RB1) protein that establish the normal epigenetic landscape in developing tissues, how these processes are perturbed to form cancer, and provide insight for the development of new cancer therapies. We use a combination of approaches, including genetic, genomics, and proteomics to identify and investigate genes and pathways involved in cancer initiation and progression.

Research interests:

• Retinoblastoma and targeted therapeutics
• Osteosarcoma and targeted therapeutics
• Small cell lung cancer and targeted therapeutics
• Triple negative breast cancer and targeted therapeutics
• Epigenomics of pediatric solid tumors