Education & Training:
University of Oviedo, Spain, 2003, B.S. in Biology
University of Oviedo, Spain, 2009, PhD in Neurosciences
Columbia University, New York, 2009, Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Miami, Miami, 2019, Postdoctoral Associate
Research Interests:
Dr. Rodriguez-Blanco’s laboratory is focused on pediatric brain tumors, and aimed at identifying novel therapeutics. Due to the significant morbidity that current multimodal therapy has in developing children, one of her major research lines is focused on finding targeted therapeutics for these tumors. Additionally, she is working into finding novel therapeutics for some of the most lethal forms of pediatric brain tumors, for which only palliative care is currently available. The main projects of Blanco’s lab are:
Identifying less toxic targeted therapeutics for SHH subgroup medulloblastoma patients.
Studying the efficacy of novel regulators of the growth and propagation of very high-risk forms of pediatric brain tumors.
Targeting the cell-of-origin: a novel approach for the treatment of patients with SHH subgroup medulloblastoma.
Highlight Publications:
1. Rodriguez-Blanco J, Li, B Long J, Shen C, Orton D, Collins S, Kasahara N, Ayad N, McCrea HJ, Roussel MF, Weiss WA, Capobianco AJ, Robbins DJ. “A CK1a activator penetrates the brain, and shows efficacy against drug-resistant metastatic medulloblastoma”. Clinical Cancer Research. 25(4):1379-1388. (2019) PMID: 30487124, PMC7142219.
2. Rodriguez-Blanco J, Pednekar L, Penas C, Li B, Martin V, Long J, Lee E, Weiss WA, Rodriguez C, Mehrdad N, Nguyen DM, Ayad NG, Rai P, Capobianco AJ, Robbins DJ. “Inhibition of WNT signaling attenuates self-renewal of SHH-subgroup medulloblastoma”. Oncogene. 36(45):6306-6314. (2017) PMID: 28714964, PMC5680121.
3. Rodriguez-Blanco J, Schilling NS, Tokhunts R, Giambelli C, Long J, Liang Fei D, Singh S, Black KE, Wang Z, Galimberti F, Bejarano PA, Elliot S, Glassberg MK, Nguyen DM, Lockwood WW, Lam WL, Dmitrovsky E, Capobianco AJ, Robbins DJ. "The Hedgehog processing pathway is required for NSCLC growth and survival”. Oncogene 2; 32(18): 2335-45. (2013) PMID: 22733134, PMC3821972.
4. Rodriguez-Blanco J, Martin V, Garcia-Santos G, Herrera F, Casado-Zapico S, Antolin I, Rodriguez C. “Cooperative action of JNK and AKT/mTOR in MPP+ induced autophagy of neuronal PC12 cells”. J Neurosci Res. 90(9): 1850-60. (2012) PMID: 22513717.
5. Rodriguez-Blanco J, Martín V, Herrera F, García-Santos G, Antolín I, Rodriguez C. “Intracellular signaling pathways involved in post-mitotic dopaminergic PC12 cell death induced by 6-hydroxydopamine”. J Neurochem 107(1): 127-40. (2008) PMID: 18665912.