University of California Irvine’s Associate Professor featured on Chilean TV show

Claudia Benavente, UCI associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, was recently featured on the Chilean TV show “Pasaporte Ciencia” (“Science Passport”) as one of the Chilean scientists conducting important research in various countries around the world. The host, Cristian Hernandez, and his team traveled to campus for the interview. “The initial challenge for the production was to prove they could create a show with gender parity, and I immediately saw the value in the opportunity to bring science closer to the average person,” Benavente said. “The show touches on our experiences from training to the work we currently do, which, in my case, is searching for cures for childhood cancer.” The show, supported by Chile’s National Television Council, airs in that nation on Channel 13 at 9 a.m. on Saturdays – which Benavente said is a “time at which families watch TV together while having breakfast” – and will be rebroadcast in prime time in the near future.