Rate My Professor Karina O'Connor

Dr. Karina O'Connor is a Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science at the University of Otago, Christchurch, where she is affiliated with the Centre for Free Radical Research, now known as Mātai Hāora - Centre for Redox Biology and Medicine. She earned her MSc from the University of Canterbury and her PhD in 2010 from the University of Otago, Christchurch, with a thesis examining the effects of oxidative stress on DNA methylation. After completing her doctorate, O'Connor took an 18-month travel hiatus before returning to collaborate with Associate Professor Mark Hampton on cellular adaptive responses to oxidative stress. Her research explores redox-dependent signaling pathways, focusing on mitochondria as metabolic sensors that relay information to the nucleus. She has developed cell culture models to investigate sub-lethal mitochondrial oxidative stress and the role of the antioxidant protein peroxiredoxin 3 (Prx3) in modulating mitochondrial signaling.

O'Connor actively supervises postgraduate honors students on projects involving oxidative stress, DNA methylation, and proteins relevant to cancer, such as the tumor suppressor p16INK4a. Her notable publications include 'Peroxiredoxins and the regulation of cell death' (2016, Molecules and Cells), which has garnered 66 citations; 'Inhibition of DNA methylation in proliferating human lymphoma cells by immune cell oxidants' (2020, Journal of Biological Chemistry); 'Regulation of the epigenetic landscape by immune cell oxidants' (2021, Free Radical Biology and Medicine); 'Amyloid formation and depolymerization of tumor suppressor p16INK4a are regulated by a thiol-dependent redox mechanism' (2024, Nature Communications); and 'Hairpin-bisulfite sequencing of cells exposed to decitabine documents the process of DNA demethylation' (2021, Epigenetics). These works elucidate how oxidants influence epigenetic modifications, cell death mechanisms, and amyloid states in cancer cells. She is also recognized as a Post-Doctoral Fellow through GRAVIDA, contributing to free radical research initiatives.