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.

Early life and education Dachs was born and raised 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.

Academic career

After conducting postdoctoral research at MRC Harwell in the United Kingdom, Dachs joined the Gray Cancer Institute in London as a senior scientist. She then moved to New Zealand, where she joined the faculty of the Department of Pathology at the University of Otago, becoming a research associate professor in 2015 and then full professor in 2023.

Dachs works in the Mackenzie Cancer Research Group and is based at Otago's Christchurch campus. She is interested in the molecular mechanisms that make cancers difficult to treat and in developing new treatments. 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. 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. Dachs is also interested in why obese cancer patients do less well in treatment, and whether molecular causes for this can be identified. She is also looking at how to improve cancer treatment using prodrugs and gene therapy. Her research spans cell culture, rodent models, and clinical trials in cancer patients.

Honours and awards In 2021 Dachs was awarded the University of Otago Christchurch Research Gold Medal.

Selected works