Dr. John Krais was awarded the 2025 Early Career Investigator Grant
John Krais, PhD is an assistant professor at WashU Medicine and is a member of the Center for Genome Integrity at Siteman Cancer Center.
Dr. Krais is testing a gene found in many tumors and how it may help cancer cells survive, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets to guide treatment.
Project Summary
RNF168 regulates the DNA damage response and is amplified in a majority of ovarian cancers. Increased expression hyperactivates damage signaling and promotes cell survival following exposure to DNA damaging treatments. Krais’ proposal investigates how the DNA damage response is altered in RNF168-amplified cancers, which current treatment options are most effective, and what new therapeutic targets specifically kill RNF168-amplified ovarian cancers. To achieve these objectives, he developed innovative imaging methodology to probe the impacts on DNA repair and generated promising genetic targets by genome-wide screening. This groundbreaking work establishes the foundation to significantly improve how RNF168-amplified ovarian cancers are treated.