Helen Morrin, Our people, University of Otago, Christchurch

Scientific Officer (Tissue Bank Curator)

BSc(Canterbury)

Email helen.morrin@otago.ac.nz
Tel 64 3 364 0558

Research interests

Helen Morrin is the curator of the Cancer Society Tissue Bank.

Affiliations

Cancer Society Tissue Bank
Mackenzie Cancer Research Group
Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science

Publications

Crake, R. L. I., Burgess, E. R., Wiggins, G. A. R., Magon, N. J., Das, A. B., Vissers, M. C. M., Morrin, H. R., Royds, J. A., Slatter, T. L., Robinson, B. A., Phillips, E., & Dachs, G. U. (2022). Ascorbate content of clinical glioma tissues is related to tumour grade and to global levels of 5-hydroxymethyl cytosine. Scientific Reports, 12, 14845. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-19032-8

Rajesh, A., Saito, M., Morrin, H., Tschirley, A., Simcock, J., Currie, M., & Hibma, M. (2022). Characterisation of the immune microenvironment of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in immunosuppression. Experimental Dermatology, 31, 1720-1728. doi: 10.1111/exd.14650

Burgess, E. R., Crake, R. L. I., Phillips, E., Morrin, H. R., Royds, J. A., Slatter, T. L., Wiggins, G. A. R., Vissers, M. C. M., Robinson, B. A., & Dachs, G. U. (2022). Increased ascorbate content of glioblastoma is associated with a suppressed hypoxic response and improved patient survival. Frontiers in Oncology, 12, 829524. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.829524

Morley-Bunker, A. E., Wiggins, G. A. R., Currie, M. J., Morrin, H. R., Whitehead, M. R., Eglinton, T., Pearson, J., & Walker, L. C. (2021). RNAscope compatibility with image analysis platforms for the quantification of tissue-based colorectal cancer biomarkers in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue. Acta Histochemica, 123, 151765. doi: 10.1016/j.acthis.2021.151765

Dachs, G. U., Gandhi, J., Wohlrab, C., Carr, A. C., Morrin, H. R., Pullar, J. M., Bayer, S. B., Eglinton, T. W., Robinson, B. A., & Vissers, M. C. M. (2021). Vitamin C administration by intravenous infusion increases tumor ascorbate content in patients with colon cancer: A clinical intervention study. Frontiers in Oncology, 10, 600715. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.600715

Lattimore, V., Parsons, M. T., Spurdle, A. B., Pearson, J., Lehnert, K., Sullivan, J., … Morrin, H., Robinson, B., & Walker, L. (2021). Under-ascertainment of breast cancer susceptibility gene carriers in a cohort of New Zealand female breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Research & Treatment, 185, 583-590. doi: 10.1007/s10549-020-05986-8

Aitchison, A., Hakkaart, C., Day, R. C., Morrin, H. R., Frizelle, F. A., & Keenan, J. I. (2020). APC mutations are not confined to hotspot regions in early-onset colorectal cancer. Cancers, 12, 3829. doi: 10.3390/cancers12123829

Allocca, C. M., Bledsoe, M. J., Albert, M., Anisimov, S. V., Bravo, E., Castelhano, M. G., … Morrin, H., … Snapes, E. (2020). Biobanking in the COVID-19 era and beyond: Part 1. How early experiences can translate into actionable wisdom. Biopreservation & Biobanking, 18(6). doi: 10.1089/bio.2020.0082

Eiholzer, R. A., Mehta, S., Kazantseva, M., Drummond, C. J., McKinney, C., Young, K., … Fleming, N., Morrin, H. R., Reader, K., Royds, J. A., Landmann, M., Petrich, S., … Taha, A., Hung, N. A., Slatter, T. L., & Braithwaite, A. W. (2020). Intronic TP53 polymorphisms are associated with increased Δ133TP53 transcript, immune infiltration and cancer risk. Cancers, 12(9), 2472. doi: 10.3390/cancers12092472

Richardson, A. K., Walker, L. C., Cox, B., Rollag, H., Robinson, B. A., Morrin, H., Pearson, J. F., … Currie, M. J. (2020). Breast cancer and cytomegalovirus. Clinical & Translational Oncology, 22, 585-602. doi: 10.1007/s12094-019-02164-1

White, R., Nonis, M., Pearson, J. F., Burgess, E., Morrin, H. R., Pullar, J. M., Spencer, E., Vissers, M. C. M., Robinson, B. A., & Dachs, G. U. (2020). Low vitamin C status in patients with cancer is associated with patient and tumor characteristics. Nutrients, 12(8), 2338. doi: 10.3390/nu12082338

Crake, R., Strother, M., Morrin, H., Smith, A., Phillips, E., Robinson, B., & Currie, M. (2020). An exploratory patient study assessing CYP450 enzyme function in women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. New Zealand Medical Journal, 133(1524), (pp. 144). Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal

Campbell, E. J., Dachs, G. U., Morrin, H. R., Davey, V., Robinson, B. A., & Vissers, M. C. M. (2019). Activation of the hypoxia pathway in breast cancer tissue and patient survival are inversely associated with tumor ascorbate levels. BMC Cancer, 19, 307. doi: 10.1186/s12885-019-5503-x

Kazantseva, M., Mehta, S., Eiholzer, R. A., Gimenez, G., Bowie, S., Campbell, H., Reily-Bell, A. L., … Ray, S., Drummond, C. J., Reid, G., … Wiles, A., Morrin, H. R., Reader, K. L., Hung, N. A., Baird, M. A., Slatter, T. L., & Braithwaite, A. W. (2019). The Δ133p53β isoform promotes an immunosuppressive environment leading to aggressive prostate cancer. Cell Death & Disease, 10, 631. doi: 10.1038/s41419-019-1861-1

Morley-Bunker, A., Pearson, J., Currie, M. J., Morrin, H., Whitehead, M. R., Eglinton, T., & Walker, L. C. (2019). Assessment of intra-tumoural colorectal cancer prognostic biomarkers using RNA in situ hybridisation. Oncotarget, 10(14), 1425-1439. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.26675

Lawrence, B., Blenkiron, C., Parker, K., Tsai, P., Fitzgerald, S., Shields, P., … Black, M., … Robinson, B., … Carroll, R., … Morrin, H., … Jackson, C., … Print, C. (2018). Recurrent loss of heterozygosity correlates with clinical outcome in pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer. npj Genomic Medicine, 3, 18. doi: 10.1038/s41525-018-0058-3

Wohlrab, C., Vissers, M. C. M., Phillips, E., Morrin, H., Robinson, B. A., & Dachs, G. U. (2018). The association between ascorbate and the hypoxia-inducible factors in human renal cell carcinoma requires a functional von Hippel-Lindau protein. Frontiers in Oncology, 8, 574. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2018.00574

Crake, R., Phillips, E., Morrin, H., Strother, M., Robinson, B., & Currie, M. (2018). Transwell co-culture with human breast adipocytes alters the proteome expression profiles of mcf-7 and mda-mb-231 human breast cancer cells. ESMO Open, 3(Suppl. 2), (pp. A111-A112). doi: 10.1136/esmoopen-2018-EACR25.268

Crake, R., Strother, M., Morrin, H., Smith, A., Phillips, E., Robinson, B., & Currie, M. (2018). An exploratory breast cancer patient study to assess the impact of obesity-related inflammation and physical activity on chemotherapy drug metabolism. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for Oncology (NZSO) Conference. Retrieved from http://www.nzsoncology.org.nz/

Lattimore, V., Lehnert, K., Lintott, C., Sullivan, J., Morrin, H., Robinson, B., & Walker, L. (2018). Evaluating variants in breast cancer associated genes identified by panel sequencing of New Zealand breast cancer patients. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for Oncology (NZSO) Conference. Retrieved from http://www.nzsoncology.org.nz/

Morley-Bunker, A., Pearson, J., Currie, M., Morrin, H., Whitehead, M., Eglinton, T., & Walker, L. (2018). Intratumoural assessment of candidate colorectal cancer prognostic markers using RNA in situ hybridization. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for Oncology (NZSO) Conference. Retrieved from http://www.nzsoncology.org.nz/

Phillips, E., Kleffmann, T., Morrin, H., Robinson, B., & Currie, M. (2018). Differential secretome analysis of cancer-associated adipocytes (CAA) and mature adipocytes to identify adipocyte-driven micro-environmental regulators of breast cancer progression. ESMO Open, 3(Suppl. 2), (pp. A348). doi: 10.1136/esmoopen-2018-EACR25.820

Wise, J., Lim, K., Morrin, H., Woodfield, T., Currie, M., & Phillips, E. (2018). Engineering a 3D model system for studying breast cancer-adipocyte interactions within the tumour microenvironment. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for Oncology (NZSO) Conference. Retrieved from http://www.nzsoncology.org.nz/

Campbell, E., Dachs, G. U., Morrin, H. R., Davey, V., Robinson, B. A., & Vissers, M. C. M. (2018, August). The regulation of the tumour hypoxic response by ascorbate and association with clinicopathological factors and patient outcome in breast cancer. Poster session presented at the Queenstown Molecular Biology (QMB) Meetings, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Crake, R., Kleffmann, T., Morrin, H., Strother, M., Robinson, B., Phillips, E., & Currie, M. (2018, August). Cancer-associated adipocytes alter protein expression profiles of human breast cancer cells in vitro. Poster session presented at the Queenstown Molecular Biology (QMB) Meetings, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Lattimore, V. L., Lehnert, K., Lintott, C., Sullivan, J., Morrin, H., Robinson, B., & Walker, L. C. (2018, August). Evaluating variants in breast cancer associated genes identified by panel sequencing of New Zealand breast cancer patients. Poster session presented at the Queenstown Molecular Biology (QMB) Meetings, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Mehta-Mujoo, P., Landmann, M., Pilbrow, A. P., Currie, M. J., Morrin, H. R., Hung, N. A., & Slatter, T. L. (2018, August). Visualisation of long non-coding RNA ANRIL in breast cancer. Poster session presented at the Queenstown Molecular Biology (QMB) Meetings, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Wise, J., Lim, K., Currie, M., Morrin, H., Woodfield, T., & Phillips, E. (2018, August). Development of a 3D breast cancer-adipocyte model: A tool for studying tumour microenvironment interactions in vitro. Poster session presented at the Queenstown Molecular Biology (QMB) Meetings, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Crake, R., Strother, M., Morrin, H., Smith, A., Phillips, E., Robinson, B., & Currie, M. (2018, November). An exploratory breast cancer patient study to assess the impact of obesity-related inflammation and physical activity on chemotherapy drug metabolism. Verbal presentation at the Women’s Wellbeing Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Robinson, B., Currie, M., Phillips, E., Dachs, G., Strother, M., Morrin, H., Davey, V., & Frampton, C. (2017). Body mass index (BMI): Association with clinicopathological factors and outcome of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in New Zealand. New Zealand Medical Journal, 130(1451), 46-56. Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal

Blenkiron, C., Parker, K., Tsai, P., Fitzgerald, S., Shields, P., Yeong, M. L., … Black, M., … Robinson, B., … Connor, S., Morrin, H., … Lawrence, B. (2017, October). Three distinct genomic landscapes define clinical outcome of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (pNETs). Verbal presentation at the 19th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG): Trials in Action, Cairns, Australia.

Royds, J. A., Pilbrow, A. P., Morrin, H. R., Frampton, C., Russell, I. A., Moravec, C. S., … Currie, M. J., Hung, N. A., & Slatter, T. L. (2016). The rs11515 polymorphism is more frequent and associated with aggressive breast tumors with increased ANRIL and decreased p16^INK4a expression. Frontiers in Oncology, 5, 306. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2015.00306

Vissers, M. C. M., Campbell, E. J., Kuiper, C., Carr, A. C., Wohlrab, C., Bozonet, S. M., Morrin, H., Robinson, B. A., & Dachs, G. U. (2016). Ascorbate as an anti-cancer therapy? Investigations into feasibility and potential mechanism of action. Proceedings of the Diagnostics, Drugs, Devices, Discovery (D4) Conference. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/d4/index.html

Gerring, Z., Pearson, J. F., Morrin, H. R., Robinson, B. A., Harris, G. C., & Walker, L. C. (2015). Phosphohistone H3 outperforms Ki67 as a marker of outcome for breast cancer patients. Histopathology, 67(4), 538-547. doi: 10.1111/his.12678

Richardson, A. K., Currie, M. J., Robinson, B. A., Morrin, H., Phung, Y., Pearson, J. F., … Walker, L. C. (2015). Cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr Virus in breast cancer. PLoS ONE, 10(2), e0118989. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118989

Ernst, C., Phillips, E., Morrin, H., Vissers, M., Robinson, B., & Dachs, G. (2015, October). The role of ascorbate in controlling hypoxia factors in renal cell carcinoma. Poster session presented at the Otago Spotlight Series: Cancer Research, Wellington, New Zealand.

Currie, M. J., Beardsley, B. E., Harris, G. C., Gunningham, S. P., Dachs, G. U., Dijkstra, B., Morrin, H. R., Wells, J. E., & Robinson, B. A. (2013). Immunohistochemical analysis of cancer stem cell markers in invasive breast carcinoma and associated ductal carcinoma in situ: Relationships with markers of tumor hypoxia and microvascularity. Human Pathology, 44(3), 402-411. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2012.06.004

Morrin, H. R., & Robinson, B. A. (2013). Sustaining a biobank through a series of earthquake swarms: Lessons learned from our New Zealand experience. Biopreservation & Biobanking, 11(4), 211-215. doi: 10.1089/bio.2013.0033

Nikitenko, L. L., Leek, R., Henderson, S., Pillay, N., Turley, H., Generali, D., Gunningham, S., Morrin, H. R., … Fox, S. B. (2013). The G-protein—coupled receptor CLR is upregulated in an autocrine loop with adrenomedullin in clear cell renal cell carcinoma and associated with poor prognosis. Clinical Cancer Research, 19(20), 5740-5748. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-13-1712

Dachs, G. U., Kano, M., Volkova, E., Morrin, H. R., Davey, V. C. L., Harris, G. C., … Frampton, C., Currie, M. J., Wells, J. E., & Robinson, B. A. (2010). A profile of prognostic and molecular factors in European and Māori breast cancer patients. BMC Cancer, 10, 543. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-10-543

Kano, M., Volkova, E., Harris, G. C., Morrin, H. R., Cheale, M., Frampton, C., Wells, E., Robinson, B. A., Currie, M. J., & Dachs, G. U. (2008). A comparison of patient, tumour and circulating factors in breast cancer patients of different ethnicities in New Zealand. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 99th Annual Meeting. Retrieved from http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/

Morrin, H., Gunningham, S., Currie, M., Dachs, G., Fox, S., & Robinson, B. (2008). Cancer Society Tissue Bank (CSTB) New Zealand: The increasing importance of supplementary sample banking for breast cancer research. Cell Preservation Technology, 6(2), (pp. 157). doi: 10.1089/cpt.2008.9998

Gunningham, S. P., Currie, M. J., Morrin, H. R., Tan, E. Y., Turley, H., Dachs, G. U., Watson, A. I., Frampton, C., Robinson, B. A., & Fox, S. B. (2007). The angiogenic factor thymidine phosphorylase up-regulates the cell adhesion molecule P-selectin in human vascular endothelial cells and is asociated with P-selectin expression in breast cancers. Journal of Pathology, 212, 335-344.

Gunningham, S., Currie, M., Hanrahan, V., Dachs, G., Morrin, H., Frampton, C., Robinson, B., & Fox, S. (2007). The short mRNA isoform of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) is down-regulated by estrogen and progesterone in breast cancer. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 98th Annual Meeting. Retrieved from http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/

Roberts, R. L., Gearry, R. B., Allington, M. D. E., Morrin, H. R., Robinson, B. A., & Frizelle, F. A. (2006). Caspase recruitment domain-containing protein 15 mutations in patients with colorectal cancer. Cancer Research, 66(5), 2532-2535.

Currie, M. J., Hanrahan, V., Gunningham, S. P., Morrin, H. R., Dachs, G. U., Frampton, C., Fox, S. B., & Robinson, B. A. (2006). Increased Ang1 and Tie2 gene expression is associated with survival in colorectal cancer patients. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 97th Annual Meeting. Retrieved from http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/

Morrin, H. R., Gunningham, S. P., Currie, M. J., Dachs, G. U., Fox, S. B., & Robinson, B. A. (2006). The Christchurch Tissue Bank: A biorepository for cancer research. New Zealand Medical Journal, 119(1231). Retrieved from http://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal/119-1231/1922/content.pdf

Currie, M. J., Hanrahan, V., Gunningham, S. P., Morrin, H. R., Frampton, C., Han, C., Robinson, B. A., & Fox, S. B. (2005). Expression of HIF-1α in human tumours. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 58, 335-336.

Morrin, H., Gunningham, S., Currie, M., Dachs, G., Fox, S., & Robinson, B. (2005). The Christchurch Tissue Bank to support cancer research. New Zealand Medical Journal, 118(1225). Retrieved from http://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal/118-1225/1735/content.pdf

Gunningham, S. P., Currie, M. J., Morrin, H. R., Dachs, G. U., Scott, P. A. E., Frampton, C. M., Robinson, B. A., & Fox, S. B. (2005). The angiogenic factor thymidine phosphorylase upregulates the cell adhesion factor p-selectin in human endothelial cells. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 96th Annual Meeting. Retrieved from http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/

Currie, M., Hanrahan, V., Gunningham, S. P., Morrin, H. R., Frampton, C., Han, C., Robinson, B. A., & Fox, S. B. (2004). Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor D is associated with hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1α) and the HIF-1α target gene DEC1, but not lymph node metastasis in primary human breast carcinomas. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 57, 829-834.

Morris, C., Benjes, S., Gough, S., McDonald, M., McKenzie, G., Moon, S. Y., Walker, L., Morrin, H., … Atkinson, C., Ganly, P., Harris, G., Miller, A., Robinson, B., & Spearing, R. (2004). Cancer genetics: Ar'ray for the future! Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for Oncology Conference. (pp. 30). [Abstract]

Morris, C., Walker, L., McKenzie, G., Harris, G., Miller, A., Morrin, H., … Wells, E., Atkinson, C., & Robinson, B. (2004). Cytogenetic and molecular profiling of breast cancer. Proceedings of the Canterbury Health Science Research Conference. (pp. 30). [Abstract]

Morrin, H., Gunningham, S., Currie, M., Dachs, G., Fox, S., & Robinson, B. (2004, June). The Christchurch tissue bank: An investment in cancer research. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Society of Oncology Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Morris, C., Benjes, S., Gough, S., McDonald, M., McKenzie, G., Moon, S. Y., Walker, L., Morrin, H., … Atkinson, C., Ganly, P., Harris, G., Miller, A. P., Robinson, B., & Spearing, R. (2004, June). Cancer genetics: Ar'ray for the future! Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Society for Oncology Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Hanrahan, V., Currie, M., Gunningham, S. P., Morrin, H., Scott, P. A. E., Robinson, B. A., & Fox, S. B. (2003). The angiogenic switch for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, and VEGF-D in the adenoma-carcinoma sequence during colorectal cancer progression. Journal of Pathology, 200(2), 183-194.

Currie, M., Gunningham, S. P., Hanrahan, V., Morrin, H., Scott, P. A. E., Robinson, B. A., & Fox, S. B. (2002). VEGF-D expression is associated with lymph node status in primary human breast carcinomas and regulated by estrogen in breast carcinoma cell lines. In F. A. Frizelle (Ed.), Proceedings of the Scientific Meeting and 32nd Annual General Meeting of the Christchurch Medical Research Society. 115(1157), (pp. 27). Christchurch: New Zealand Medical Journal. [Abstract]

Currie, M., Gunningham, S. P., Morrin, H., Robinson, B. A., Scott, P., & Fox, S. B. (2002). VEGF-D expression in primary human breast carcinomas is associated with lymph node status and is regulated by estrogen in T47D but not MCF-7 breast cell lines. Keystone Symposia 2002 Abstract book. Silverthorne, United States of America: Keystone Symposia. [Abstract]

Fox, S. B., Gunningham, S. P., Hanrahan, V., Currie, M. J., Morrin, H. R., Scott, P. A. E., Robinson, B. A., & Wilson, W. R. (2002). 5,6-dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid may cause tumour infarction in WiDr xenograft model by up-regulating soluble neuropilin-1. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Oncology Meeting. [Abstract]

Hanrahan, V., Currie, M., Gunningham, S. P., Morrin, H., Scott, P. A. E., Robinson, B. A., & Fox, S. B. (2002). Gene expression of VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C and their tyrosine kinase receptors in human colorectal cancer. Proceedings of the Scientific meeting and 32nd Annual General meeting of the Christchurch Medical Research Society. 115(1157), (pp. 27). Christchurch: New Zealand Medical Journal. [Abstract]

Are you looking for...

Are you looking for...

Are you looking for...

Are you looking for...

Are you looking for...

Are you looking for...

Are you looking for...

Research interests

Affiliations

Publications