Camila dos Santos
Associate Professor
Cancer Center Program Co-Leader
Ph.D., Universidade Estadual de Campinas - Brazil, 2007
dossanto@cshl.edu | 516-367-8869
Among the changes that occur during pregnancy, those affecting the breasts have been found to subsequently modify breast cancer risk. My laboratory investigates how the signals present during pregnancy permanently alter the way gene expression is controlled and how these changes affect normal and malignant mammary development.
Camila dos Santos’ laboratory studies the epigenetic regulation of normal and malignant mammary gland development, with an emphasis on the alterations brought by pregnancy. Significant changes mark the pre- and post-pubescence mammary developmental stages, but those associated with pregnancy have the greatest effect on cellular function, tissue reorganization, and breast cancer susceptibility. Her group has recently found that mammary glands react differently to a second pregnancy than they do to the first one, with associated changes in DNA methylation. These findings suggested that pregnancy changes the state of mammary cells, and these may permanently alter how they react to the next pregnancy. In addition, the dos Santos lab is exploring how the pregnancy-induced epigenetic changes might influence cell transformation and the risk of breast cancer. This research utilizes genomic and computational approaches to define the pre and post-pregnancy mammary epigenome. An additional objective of the dos Santos’ laboratory is to use functional genomics to discover novel transcriptional regulators that modulate mammary stem cell self-renewal, lineage specification, and cell transformation. The long-term objective of Camila’s group is to improve the notion of the mammary epigenome during normal development and use this information to gain insight into new preventive and curative strategies to target breast cancer.
Pershing Square Sohn prize to Camila dos Santos
Rita Allen Foundation Scholar
The V Foundation: V Scholar Award
At the Lab: UTIs in women’s health
May 13, 2025
Why do breast cancer researchers focused on pregnancy start looking into urinary tract infections? The backstory is as intriguing as the story itself.
Aboff’s Paints donates $50K to CSHL breast cancer research
February 25, 2025
Assistant Professor Camila dos Santos and her colleagues in the CSHL Cancer Center thank the local family business for their continuing support.
Jorge Family Foundation donates $1 million to CSHL
December 23, 2024
The Arlindo and Evelyn Jorge Family Foundation provided $1 million to renovate a research lab studying breast cancer and women’s health.
Women’s lives, breast health, and cancer
December 17, 2024
A panel discussion featuring CSHL Associate Professor Camila dos Santos and three clinical professionals specializing in women’s health.
Empowering Insights: The science behind health
November 18, 2024
“The opportunity to turn curiosity into discoveries that impact the human condition is at the core of CSHL’s mission,” writes President Stillman.
CSHL’s oldest haunts
October 31, 2024
These buildings have weathered oceans of time to be here. Pull back the veil and cross over into CSHL’s storied past for a closer look.
A century of women’s health breakthroughs
July 22, 2024
Oscar Riddle identified the hormone behind lactation in 1933. The discovery at CSHL continues to inspire research on women’s health and breast cancer.
A link between breast changes and . . . UTIs?
May 2, 2024
CSHL breast cancer researchers, led by Associate Professor Camila dos Santos, made a surprise discovery while investigating urinary tract infections.
Women’s health quiz
March 19, 2024
CSHL research has yielded insights into a number of women’s health topics, from menopause to breast cancer. Take this quiz to see how far we’ve come.
Women in science on women’s health
March 8, 2024
CSHL’s Camila dos Santos and Jessica Tollkuhn offer empowering insights into breast cancer prevention, pregnancy, menopause, and hormone therapy.
All Publications
Epigenetic scars of Brca1 loss point toward breast cancer cell of origin
20 Nov 2024 | Nature Genetics
Lewis, Steven; Dos Santos, Camila;
Interaction between MED12 and ΔNp63 activates basal identity in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
17 Jun 2024 | Nature Genetics
Maia-Silva, Diogo; Cunniff, Patrick; Schier, Allison; Skopelitis, Damianos; Trousdell, Marygrace; Moresco, Philip; Gao, Yuan; Kechejian, Vahag; He, Xue-Yan; Sahin, Yunus; Wan, Ledong; Alpsoy, Aktan; Liverpool, Jynelle; Krainer, Adrian; Egeblad, Mikala; Spector, David; Fearon, Douglas; Dos Santos, Camila; Taatjes, Dylan; Vakoc, Christopher;
Host response during unresolved urinary tract infection alters female mammary tissue homeostasis through collagen deposition and TIMP1
16 Apr 2024 | Nature Communications | 15(1):3282
Henry, Samantha; Lewis, Steven; Cyrill, Samantha; Callaway, Mackenzie; Chatterjee, Deeptiman; Hanasoge Somasundara, Amritha; Jones, Gina; He, Xue-Yan; Caligiuri, Giuseppina; Ciccone, Michael; Diaz, Isabella; Biswas, Amelia; Hernandez, Evelyn; Ha, Taehoon; Wilkinson, John; Egeblad, Mikala; Tuveson, David; Dos Santos, Camila;
Host response during unresolved urinary tract infection alters mammary tissue homeostasis through collagen deposition and TIMP1
6 Feb 2024 | bioRxiv
Henry, Samantha; Lewis, Steven; Cyrill, Samantha; Callaway, Mackenzie; Chatterjee, Deeptiman; Hanasoge Somasundara, Amritha; Jones, Gina; He, Xue-Yan; Caligiuri, Giuseppina; Ciccone, Michael; Diaz, Isabella; Biswas, Amelia; Hernandez, Evelyn; Ha, Taehoon; Wilkinson, John; Egeblad, Mikala; Tuveson, David; Oresco dos Santos, Camila;
Single-Cell Transcription Mapping of Murine and Human Mammary Organoids Responses to Female Hormones
30 Jan 2024 | Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia | 29(1):3
Ortiz, Jenelys; Lewis, Steven; Ciccone, Michael; Chatterjee, Deeptiman; Henry, Samantha; Siepel, Adam; Dos Santos, Camila;
Single-cell transcription mapping of murine and human mammary organoids responses to female hormones
29 Sep 2023 | bioRxiv
Ortiz, Jenelys; Lewis, Steven; Ciccone, Michael; Chatterjee, Deeptiman; Henry, Samantha; Siepel, Adam; Dos Santos, Camila;
Gestational Breast Cancer - a Review of Outcomes, Pathophysiology, and Model Systems
14 Jul 2023 | Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia | 28(1):16
Callaway, Mackenzie; Dos Santos, Camila;
Cathepsin B Is Not an Intrinsic Factor Related to Asparaginase Resistance of the Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia REH Cell Line
7 Jul 2023 | International Journal of Molecular Sciences | 24(13):11215
Costa, Iris; Effer, Brian; Costa-Silva, Tales; Chen, Chen; Ciccone, Michael; Pessoa, Adalberto; Dos Santos, Camila; Monteiro, Gisele;
Immature natural killer cells promote progression of triple-negative breast cancer
8 Mar 2023 | Science Translational Medicine | 15(686):eabl4414
Thacker, Gatha; Henry, Samantha; Nandi, Ajeya; Debnath, Rahul; Singh, Snahlata; Nayak, Anupma; Susnik, Barbara; Boone, Melinda; Zhang, Qing; Kesmodel, Susan; Gumber, Sanjeev; Das, Gokul; Kambayashi, Taku; Dos Santos, Camila; Chakrabarti, Rumela;
Clinical applications of 3D normal and breast cancer organoids: A review of concepts and methods
19 Nov 2022 | Experimental Biology and Medicine | :15353702221131877
Lewis, Steven; Callaway, Mackenzie; Dos Santos, Camila;