Dr Elisabeth Phillips

Research Fellow

BSc(Hons)(Sheffield) PhD(Birmingham)

Email elisabeth.phillips@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 3 364 0557

Research interests

Dr Elisabeth Phillips is an emerging cancer researcher who has research interests in cancer, particularly the tumour microenvironment and therapy resistance.

Cancer does not develop in isolation. A milieu of other cells, extracellular matrix component and physical stressors surround cancers as they develop and grow, creating a permissive environment for the initiation, growth and metastasis of cancer. Adipose tissue is present within the tumour microenvironment of several invasive cancers. Adipocytes have the ability to secrete a plethora of chemical signals and can form physical interactions with surrounding cells. This ‘cross-talk’ between cancer and adipocytes enables change of phenotype of both the cancer and the adipocytes, which is thought to be exacerbated under obesogenic conditions. The adipocytes within the tumour microenvironment that display this activated phenotype are named Cancer Associated Adipocytes (CAA).

Our research has used cutting-edge molecular techniques to probe this dynamic cellular interaction in vitro and in clinical samples, with the aim of finding underlying mechanisms that have the potential to be exploited for targeted therapy.

We have used in vitro models with primary human breast adipocytes cultured together with cancer cells and used a combination of OMICs technologies to investigate changes within the breast cancer cells. We have also used mass-spectrometry based proteomics to profile the changes that occur in the secreted factors released by the adipocytes after. Using this data, we are working to identify how to exploit CAAs to target tumours more effectively through studying the pathways that are fundamental to their pro-tumour functions in vitro and in people with cancer through clinical samples.

In addition, we, in collaboration with Dr Khoon Lim (Christchurch REgenerative and Tissue Engineering group), are further developing an in vitro, 3-dimensional model that we will use to investigate the CAA: Cancer interaction using a combination of cell and molecular biology approaches.

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD students

Student: Eleanor Burgess
Thesis title: The role of ascorbate in glioma
Supervisors: Gabi Dachs, Elisabeth Philies, Bridget Robinson and Margreet Vissers

Student: Rebekah Crake
Thesis title: Local and systemic effects of adipocyte-secreted factors in breast cancer
Supervisors: Margaret Currie, Elisabeth Phillips, Matthew Strother, Bridget Robinson

Student: Jessika Wise
Thesis title: 3D breast tumour models for drug discovery
Supervisors: Elisabeth Phillips, Khoon Lim, Margaret Currie and Tim Woodfield

Completed PhD students

Student: Christina Wohlrab
Thesis title: The role of ascorbate in controlling hypoxia factors in renal cell carcinoma
Supervisors: Gabi Dachs, Elisabeth Phillips, Bridget Robinson, Margreet Vissers
Graduated: 2018

Completed MSc student

Student: Mohini Puri
Thesis title: Role of cancer associated adipocytes (CAA) and tumour associated collagen structures (TACS) in breast cancer cell invasion and metastasis
Supervisors: Margaret Currie, Elisabeth Phillips
Graduated: 2019

Completed BBiomedSc(Hons) students

Student: Rebekah Crake
Thesis title: Exploring molecular links between obesity and breast cancer
Supervisors: Logan Walker, Elisabeth Phillips, Margaret Currie
Graduated: 2015

Student: Morgan Jones
Thesis title: Does fat provide energy for breast tumour cell invasion and metastasis?
Supervisors: Margaret Currie, Elisabeth Phillips, Mark Hampton
Graduated: 2015

Student: Anishah Mandani
Thesis title: Development of a metabolic syndrome model of breast cancer
Supervisors: Gabi Dachs, Elisabeth Phillips, Margaret Currie
Graduated: 2015

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Publications

Crake, R. L. I., Burgess, E. R., Royds, J. A., Phillips, E., Vissers, M. C. M., & Dachs, G. U. (2021). The role of 2-oxoglutarate dependent dioxygenases in gliomas and glioblastomas: A review of epigenetic reprogramming and hypoxic responses. Frontiers in Oncology, 11, 619300. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.619300

Crake, R. L. I., Strother, M. R., Phillips, E., Doogue, M. P., Zhang, M., Frampton, C. M. A., Robinson, B. A., & Currie, M. J. (2021). Influence of serum inflammatory cytokines on cytochrome P450 drug metabolising activity during breast cancer chemotherapy: A patient feasibility study. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 5648. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85048-1

Stamp, L. K., Cameron, V. A., Woodfield, T. B. F., Walker, L., Currie, M., Templeton, E., Pilbrow, A. P., Tabakakis, K., Phillips, E., & Lim, K. S. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on health research in New Zealand: A case study of a research-intensive campus. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/03036758.2020.1867202

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

Crake, R. L. I., Phillips, E., Kleffmann, T., & Currie, M. J. (2019). Co-culture with human breast adipocytes differentially regulates protein abundance in breast cancer cells. Cancer Geonomics & Proteomics, 16(5), 319-332. doi: 10.21873/cgp.20137

Journal - Research Article

Wohlrab, C., Kuiper, C., Vissers, M. C. M., Phillips, E., Robinson, B. A., & Dachs, G. U. (2019). Ascorbate modulates the hypoxic pathway by increasing intracellular activity of the HIF hydroxylases in renal cell carcinoma cells. Hypoxia, 7, 17-31. doi: 10.2147/hp.S201643

Journal - Research Article

Buss, L. A., Mandani, A., Phillips, E., Scott, N. J. A., Currie, M. J., & Dachs, G. U. (2018). Characterisation of a mouse model of breast cancer with metabolic syndrome. In Vivo, 32(5), 1071-1080. doi: 10.21873/invivo.11348

Journal - Research Article

Phillips, E., Horniblow, R. D., Poole, V., Bedford, M., Ward, D. G., Kirkham, A. J., … Tselspis, C. (2018). A potential role for hepcidin in obesity-driven colorectal tumourigenesis. Oncology Reports, 39(1), 392-400. doi: 10.3892/or.2017.6062

Journal - Research Article

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

Journal - Research Article

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

Journal - Research Article

Wohlrab, C., Phillips, E., & Dachs, G. U. (2017). Vitamin C transporters in cancer: Current understanding and gaps in knowledge. Frontiers in Oncology, 7, 74. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2017.00074

Journal - Research Article

Dachs, G. U., Phillips, E., Phung, Y., Dyer, A., Willis, J. A., Currie, M. J., & Robinson, B. A. (2015). Tumour growth in mice resistant to diet-induced obesity. Journal of Molecular Biochemistry, 4(2), 42-49.

Journal - Research Article

Flett, T., Campbell, E. J., Phillips, E., Vissers, M. C. M., & Dachs, G. U. (2014). Gulonolactone addition to human hepatocellular carcinoma cells with gene transfer of gulonolactone oxidase restores ascorbate biosynthesis and reduces hypoxia inducible factor 1. Biomedicines, 2(1), 98-109. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines2010098

Journal - Research Article

Journal - Research Other