Benedito A. Carneiro, MD, MS is a medical oncologist and clinical investigator with expertise in early drug development and first-in-human clinical trials exploring novel therapeutics for solid tumors. Dr. Carneiro is the founder and Director of the Cancer Drug Development Program (Phase I), Director of Clinical Research at the Brown University Health Cancer Institute, Associate Director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, and Co-Leader of the Cancer Therapeutics Program at the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University. He has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on more than 100 clinical trials, including numerous first-in-human (phase I) studies evaluating novel treatments for advanced solid tumors, among them kidney, bladder, prostate, lung, pancreas, and colon cancers.
Under his leadership, the Phase I clinical trials program at Brown University Health and the Legorreta Cancer Center has expanded significantly, creating new opportunities for patients in Rhode Island to access the most advanced cancer therapies in development. He has built the robust clinical research infrastructure and multidisciplinary team of experts that support this growth, positioning the Brown Phase I program as a nationally and internationally recognized leader in early drug development. Strategic collaborations with biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry partners have strengthened academic alliances and catalyzed scientific discoveries across the campus.
Dr. Carneiro's clinical and translational research efforts, conducted in close collaboration with translational scientists, focus on innovative immunotherapies, genomics-driven treatment strategies, cellular therapies, target discovery, and biomarkers of treatment response and resistance – work that informs the design and correlative endpoints of the early-phase trials he leads. He has expertise in the mechanisms of cell death (apoptosis) and its interface with anti-tumor immune response, as well as in novel agents targeting tumors with defects in DNA repair pathways.
Prior to joining Brown University, Dr. Carneiro served as Co-Director of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and as Director of the postgraduate Developmental Therapeutics Fellowship Program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he trained early-phase investigators. He has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed publications and multiple book chapters and has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on more than 100 clinical trials. Dr. Carneiro is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). He represents the Legorreta Cancer Center at the WIN (Worldwide Innovative Networking in Personalized Cancer Medicine) Consortium, serves as the Co-Chair of Genitourinary Disease Committee within the WIN Consortium, and has contributed to the ASCO Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee and the AACR Annual Meeting Clinical Trials Committee.
