Rate My Professor Anita Dunbier

Associate Professor Anita Dunbier serves in the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Health Sciences Division, at the University of Otago. She holds qualifications of BSc(Hons) and PhD. Her academic career at the University of Otago spans multiple periods, including from July 1999 to December 2006 in the Department of Biochemistry, followed by a position at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London, United Kingdom, from January 2007 to May 2011. Upon returning to the University of Otago, she progressed from Senior Lecturer to her current role as Associate Professor. In 2011, she was awarded a Health Research Council of New Zealand Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship to investigate factors influencing breast cancer therapy responses. She has earned the University of Otago Early Career Award for Distinction in Research in 2014 and the Otago School of Medical Sciences (OSMS) Emerging Researcher Award in 2013, recognizing outstanding research achievement by early-career researchers holding a PhD for five to ten years with at least two years at Otago.

Dunbier's laboratory research focuses on molecular aspects of cancer, with particular emphasis on the genotypic and phenotypic determinants of resistance to endocrine therapy in breast cancer. Key projects examine genes co-activated alongside the oestrogen receptor that influence cancer cell growth, genetic susceptibility, and treatment response. Another major area investigates how immune cells are recruited to oestrogen receptor-positive breast tumors during endocrine therapy, the signaling mechanisms involved, and their role in enabling cancer cells to evade treatment. This work aims to identify strategies for improving therapy outcomes, such as combination treatments targeting immune responses. Notable publications include 'Restriction site associated DNA sequencing for tumour mutation burden estimation and mutation signature analysis' (McGuinness, C. F., Black, M. A., & Dunbier, A. K., Cancer Medicine, 2023); 'Molecular Profiling of Aromatase Inhibitor–Treated Postmenopausal Breast Tumors Identifies Novel Genes Associated with Early Local Recurrence' (Dunbier et al., Clinical Cancer Research, 2013); and 'Differences in the transcriptional response to endocrine therapy in relationship to tumour biology' (Dunbier et al., 2014). She supervises graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, with positions available supported by University of Otago PhD scholarships. Her contributions have garnered over 5,400 citations on Google Scholar.