Gabi Dachs

Gabriele Ursula Dachs is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in the how cancer cells respond to hypoxia, and developing novel treatments for cancer.

Gabi Dachs
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Cape Town
Thesis	The effect of metronidazole on Bacteroides fragilis and Escherichia coli (1992)
Doctoral advisor	Valerie Abratt
Academic work
Institutions	University of Otago, Medical Research Council Harwell, Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology

Early life and education

Dachs was born and grew up in Namibia. Dachs completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, followed by a PhD titled The effect of metronidazole on Bacteroides fragilis and Escherichia coli at the same institution.^[1][2][3]

Academic career

After postdoctoral research at MRC Harwell in the UK, Dachs joined the Gray Cancer Institute in London as a senior scientist. She then moved to New Zealand, where she was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Pathology at the University of Otago, rising to research associate professor in 2015 and then full professor in 2023.^[4][5]

Dachs works in the Mackenzie Cancer Research Group and is based at Otago's Christchurch campus.^[6][1] She is interested in the molecular mechanisms that mean cancers are hard to treat, and how to develop new treatments.^[1] Dachs has explored how cancer cells respond to hypoxia (low oxygen levels), and how the hypoxic pathway is affected by vitamin C.^[7][8] Dachs led research that showed that cancer cells from colon tumours removed during surgery retained vitamin C if the patient had received a very high dose infusion of vitamin C before their surgery.^[8] Previous work by her group had found that vitamin C might be an effective anticancer agent, but as solid tumours have 'disorganised' blood flow, it was not clear if vitamin C would reach or be retained in tumour cells.^[8] Dachs is also interested in why obese cancer patients do less well in treatment, and whether molecular causes for this can be identified.^[1] She is also looking at how to improve cancer treatment using prodrugs and gene therapy.^[1] Her research spans cell culture, rodent models, and clinical trials in cancer patients.^[3]

Honours and awards

In 2021 Dachs was awarded the University of Otago Christchurch Research Gold Medal.^[5]

Selected works

• Chris P. Guise; Maria R Abbattista; Rachelle S Singleton; et al. (9 February 2010). "The bioreductive prodrug PR-104A is activated under aerobic conditions by human aldo-keto reductase 1C3". Cancer Research. 70 (4): 1573–1584. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-3237. ISSN 0008-5472. PMID 20145130. Wikidata Q34097892.
• Kaye J Williams; Brian Telfer; Dia Xenaki; et al. (18 April 2005). "Enhanced response to radiotherapy in tumours deficient in the function of hypoxia-inducible factor-1". Radiotherapy and Oncology. 75 (1): 89–98. doi:10.1016/J.RADONC.2005.01.009. ISSN 0167-8140. PMID 15878106. Wikidata Q47801291.
• Gabi U Dachs; Joanna Tupper; Gillian M Tozer (1 April 2005). "From bench to bedside for gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy of cancer". Anti-Cancer Drugs. 16 (4): 349–359. doi:10.1097/00001813-200504000-00001. ISSN 0959-4973. PMID 15746571. Wikidata Q36061340.
• Caroline Kuiper; Ilona G M Molenaar; Gabi U Dachs; Margaret J Currie; Peter H Sykes; Margreet C M Vissers (22 June 2010). "Low ascorbate levels are associated with increased hypoxia-inducible factor-1 activity and an aggressive tumor phenotype in endometrial cancer". Cancer Research. 70 (14): 5749–5758. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-0263. ISSN 0008-5472. PMID 20570889. Wikidata Q43008648.
• Margret C M Vissers; Sarah P Gunningham; Mary J Morrison; Gabi U Dachs; Margaret J Currie (30 November 2006). "Modulation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha in cultured primary cells by intracellular ascorbate". Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 42 (6): 765–772. doi:10.1016/J.FREERADBIOMED.2006.11.023. ISSN 0891-5849. PMID 17320759. Wikidata Q40167157.
• Gabi U Dachs; Michelle A Hunt; Sophie Syddall; Dean C Singleton; Adam Patterson (10 November 2009). "Bystander or no bystander for gene directed enzyme prodrug therapy". Molecules. 14 (11): 4517–4545. doi:10.3390/MOLECULES14114517. ISSN 1420-3049. PMC 6255103. PMID 19924084. Wikidata Q37634940.
• Caroline Kuiper; Gabi U. Dachs; Margaret J. Currie; Margreet C M Vissers (April 2014). "Intracellular ascorbate enhances hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-hydroxylase activity and preferentially suppresses the HIF-1 transcriptional response". Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 69: 308–317. doi:10.1016/J.FREERADBIOMED.2014.01.033. ISSN 0891-5849. PMID 24495550. Wikidata Q59617798.