Camila dos Santos
Associate Professor
Cancer Center Program Co-Leader
Ph.D., Universidade Estadual de Campinas - Brazil, 2007
[email protected] | 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鈥 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鈥 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鈥檚 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
Double Helix Medalists Martina Navratilova & Chris Evert
March 16, 2026
Witness the journey of tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova from the courts to cancer advocacy to CSHL鈥檚 Double Helix Medal.
Breast cancer discovery could help prevent recurrence
October 20, 2025
鈥淲e鈥檙e not curing cancer, but we鈥檙e forcing it into an avenue that we鈥檙e good at, which is targeting it with hormone therapies.鈥
The magnetic math of breast health
October 2, 2025
Three grad students at CSHL have developed a new tool to study changes in mouse mammary glands. It may one day allow for earlier cancer diagnoses.
Inspiring breast cancer breakthroughs
August 18, 2025
For World Breast Cancer Research Day, see how CSHL scientists are leading the charge against this all-too-common disease.
At the Lab: UTIs in women鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 health.
Women鈥檚 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鈥檚 health.
Empowering Insights: The science behind health
November 18, 2024
鈥淭he opportunity to turn curiosity into discoveries that impact the human condition is at the core of CSHL鈥檚 mission,鈥 writes President Stillman.
CSHL鈥檚 oldest haunts
October 31, 2024
These buildings have weathered oceans of time to be here. Pull back the veil and cross over into CSHL鈥檚 storied past for a closer look.
All Publications
26 Sep 2025 | Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia | 30(1):13
Lewis, Steven; Tellez-Perez, Lucia; Henry, Samantha; Zheng, Xingyu; Navlakha, Saket; Dos Santos, Camila;
8 Sep 2025 | Developmental Cell | 60(17):2218-2236
Gray, G; Carlson, Eric; Lev, Tatyana; Marshall, Bailey; Reed, Austin; Sánchez-Covarrubias, Alex; Twigger, Alecia-Jane; Puig-Barbe, Aleix; Thennavan, Aatish; Omotoso, Ayodele; Murrow, Lyndsay; Chatterjee, Deeptiman; He, Siyuan; Pensa, Sara; Aevermann, Brian; Tavares, Norbert; Chen, Natalie; Hilton, Jason; Blake, Kerrigan; Liu, Yunlong; Phong, Kiet; Gartner, Zev; Lawson, Devon; Swarbrick, Alexander; Dos Santos, Camila; George, Sophia; Brugge, Joan; LaBarge, Mark; Nakshatri, Harikrishna; Navin, Nicholas; Kessenbrock, Kai; Khaled, Walid;
20 Nov 2024 | Nature Genetics
Lewis, Steven; Dos Santos, Camila;
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;
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;
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;
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;
29 Sep 2023 | bioRxiv
Ortiz, Jenelys; Lewis, Steven; Ciccone, Michael; Chatterjee, Deeptiman; Henry, Samantha; Siepel, Adam; Dos Santos, Camila;
14 Jul 2023 | Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia | 28(1):16
Callaway, Mackenzie; Dos Santos, Camila;
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;