Tibebe Antonios Teklemariam, PhD

2025 Mentored Investigator Grant

Washington University in St. Louis

Project
Ovarian cancer patients currently have little to no-curative options highlighting an unmet clinical need. To address this issue, we performed a genetic screen to identify factors that synergize with available therapeutic options to effectively kill ovarian cancer cells. We have identified an epigenetic enzyme which when depleted, significantly increases the sensitivity of ovarian cancer lines to platinum and PARP inhibitors. Here, we will examine the underlying mechanism of this phenotype and extend our findings to mouse- and patient models. Given that an inhibitor for this enzyme is in clinical trial, we hope that our findings can be readily translated.

This grant was made possible by a generous donation made in memory of Susan (Simcha) Rudolph.

Bio
Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I received my BS and MS degrees from Addis Ababa University. My PhD work at Iowa State University on the biochemistry of DNA double-strand break repair proteins was bookended by teaching stints at a couple of medical schools in my home country, including my alma mater. My current work in the Division of Medical Oncology at WashU is aimed at developing new therapeutic strategies to combat chemoresistance in ovarian cancers. I combine cell biology, molecular biology, proteomics and functional biochemistry approaches to identify novel cellular targets that could be utilized to improve treatment outcomes and may serve as useful biomarkers for therapy response. I am excited by the translational science outcomes that the current proposed work aims to deliver. It is a great honor to be in the fine company of past and present OCRA grant winners. I thank the donors, my mentor and my lab mates without whose help this may not have been possible.