Dr.Karimbayli delivered a compelling presentation as part of the ongoing TRIPM seminar series, highlighting his latest research on the role of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 17 (CDK17) in chemotherapy resistance in epithelial ovarian cancer. The session drew attendance from students and faculty across multiple colleges, reflecting strong interdisciplinary interest in advancing cancer research. Ovarian cancer remains one of the most lethal gynecological malignancies, with platinum-based chemotherapy serving as the standard treatment; however, the development of resistance continues to limit its clinical effectiveness and contributes to poor patient outcomes.
Dr. Javad Karimbayli’s research focuses on understanding how cancer cells develop resistance to systemic and targeted therapies through experimental and bioinformatic approaches. He earned his Ph.D. in Biomolecular Medicine from the University of Trieste, Italy, in 2022, where he investigated molecular mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer, and previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Italian National Cancer Institute, CRO Aviano. Dr. Karimbayli’s work spans cellular imaging, high-throughput data analysis, and molecular biology techniques, and has resulted in publications in high-impact journals including Molecular Cancer, Science Advances, and Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy.
In his talk, Dr. Karimbayli demonstrated that CDK17 plays a critical role in promoting resistance by sustaining activation of EGFR signaling pathways, thereby enhancing cancer cell survival. Through proteomic analysis and pathway enrichment studies, his research uncovered a previously unrecognized function of CDK17 in this context. Notably, the findings suggest that targeting CDK17 could improve the efficacy of both platinum-based and EGFR-targeted therapies, offering a promising new therapeutic strategy for patients with resistant ovarian cancer. These insights represent an important step toward the development of more effective treatment approaches.
