14 U A B C O M P R E H E N S I V E C A N C E R C E N T E R

DR. BENVENISTE never intended to

find herself in the Deep South. An Oakland,

California, native, she earned her bachelor’s

degree in biological sciences from California

State University, Chico. Her undergraduate

interest in immunology led her to a posi-

tion at the National Institutes of Health in

Bethesda, Maryland, but it was just one year

later that she returned to California to pursue

her doctorate at UCLA.

Her change in attitude—and, ultimately,

geography—began during her postdoctoral

fellowship in neuroimmunology at UCLA.

There she met her future husband, Casey

Morrow, Ph.D. “We got married and then

had the challenge of finding faculty posi-

tions together,” Dr. Benveniste recalls. “Both

of us are from California, and to be honest,

Alabama really wasn’t on the radar.”

A NEW HOME Dr. Benveniste and her husband looked

at a number of places on both the East and

West Coasts. It was Dr. Morrow, a specialist

ETTY “TIKA” BENVENISTE

CHAIR OF THE UAB DEPARTMENT OF CELL, DEVELOPMENTAL AND INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY AND ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF BASIC

SCIENCE FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER, ETTY “TIKA” BENVENISTE, PH.D., IS IMMERSED IN FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

THAT KEEPS UAB ON THE LEADING EDGE OF CANCER DISCOVERIES.

B Y C H R I S T Y M C K E N Z I E

ARE NOW IN CLINICAL TRIALS

FOR SEVERAL DIFFERENT

CANCERS.”

“. . . ANTIBODIES DEVELOPED AT UAB