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Rafael C. Casellas is a Professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he leads a research program at the intersection of molecular cell biology, immunology, and genome biology. His work integrates chromatin, epigenetics, and genomics to dissect the molecular mechanisms governing DNA repair, replication, and transcription. Recent breakthroughs include elucidating the local attenuation of DNA replication at double-strand breaks and defining a dual role for Cohesin in DNA double-strand break repair, both published in *Nature* and *Nature Communications* in 2025. His group also uncovered how RNA-binding proteins mediate chromatin topology maturation during differentiation (*Nature Cell Biology*) and identified immunogenomic determinants of exceptional response to immune checkpoint inhibition in renal cell carcinoma (*Nature Cancer*). Casellas has also advanced translational immunology through KIR3DL2-directed CAR T cell therapy for T-cell malignancies (*Blood*). His research is characterized by international collaborations and a rigorous, mechanistic approach to genome stability and immune regulation.
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