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 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.

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. 

Dachs works in the Mackenzie Cancer Research Group and is based at Otago's Christchurch campus. She is interested in the molecular mechanisms that mean cancers are hard to treat, and how to develop new treatments. Dachs has explored how cancer cells respond to hypoxia (low oxygen levels), and how the hypoxic pathway is affected by vitamin C. 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.