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Rachel PurcellSenior Research Fellow

BSc(Hons)(Cork) MSc(Hons)(PIC) PhD(Otago)

Email rachel.purcell@otago.ac.nz

Rachel is a Senior Research Fellow with the Department of Surgery. She has a background in molecular biology and cancer genetics.

Her research is centred on the molecular mechanisms of pathogenic bacteria in colorectal carcinogenesis.

Rachel's current research projects include investigating the effect of the gut microbiome on radiotherapy response in rectal cancer, microbiome-based markers of diverticular disease and molecular classification of colorectal cancer..

Publications

Shan, Z., Chen, Y., Chen, F., Zhang, Y., Chen, H., Wang, Z., … Purcell, R., … Li, X. (2026). Dietary yacon concentrate reshapes microbial-metabolite crosstalk to inhibit colorectal cancer. NPJ Science of Food. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1038/s41538-026-00931-3 Journal - Research Article

Purcell, R. V., Hegoburu, A., Sulit, A., & Frizelle, F. (2026). Spatial immune architecture as a predictor of response to neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy in rectal cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 44(16, Suppl.), e15739. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.e15739 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Purcell, R. V., Waddell, O., Sulit, A., & Frizelle, F. (2026). A distinct immune-microbiome axis in early-onset colorectal cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 44(16, Suppl.), e15736. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.e15736 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Sulit, A., Kinder, C. R., Permain, J., Miller, A., & Purcell, R. (2026, February). The tumour-resident microbiome and methylation in colorectal tumours. Verbal presentation at the Genetics Otago (GO) Annual Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Permain, J., Sulit, A., Eglinton, T., & Purcell, R. (2026). Bacterial lipopolysaccharide alters DNA methylation in colorectal cancer cells. Clinical Epigenetics, 18, 11. doi: 10.1186/s13148-025-02012-w Journal - Research Article

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