Rebeca San Martin received her B.S. in Biochemistry and M.S in Chemistry from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She then attended Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, for doctoral training in molecular and cell biology under the mentorship of David Rowley, where she studied the reactive microenvironment that accompanies prostate cancer progression.
This work revealed common factors in the reactive environment of both the primary tumor and the metastatic bone site, particularly the deposition of an extracellular matrix protein Tenascin-C, and the contributions of the microvasculature in the reactive stroma response.

Dr. San Martin joined the McCord lab in 2018 as a postdoctoral research associate, gaining fellowship from the American Cancer Society in 2020 and The Leading Edge in 2021. Her current project, studying the influence of the microenvironment on the 3D genome structure of prostate cancer, leverages Rebeca’s experience in modeling complex biological systems like the bone microenvironment with the McCord lab’s expertise in state-of-the-art genomic approaches.

Rebeca’s overarching future goal is to lead an independent research program focused on tissue microenvironment in cancer biology. By applying flexible experimental models, her long-term goal is to identify the molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern deleterious responses to reactive microenvironment cues, particularly those in the metastatic bone niche.