Dr Astero Klampatsa

Biography

Dr Astero Klampatsa graduated with a BSc in Biological Sciences and an MSc by Research in Biomedicine from Lancaster University. She worked as a Research Fellow at the Department of Pathology of the Royal London Hospital, during which time she got a PGCert in Biomedical Science – Cellular Pathology from Westminster University.

In 2004, Dr Klampatsa joined the Bart’s Mesothelioma Research Group at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where she commenced her studies into mesothelioma biology, and graduated with a PhD in Research Oncology (focused in mesothelioma apoptotic and hypoxia pathways) from Queen Mary’s College, University of London, in 2011. 

She then worked as a Research Associate in the CAR Mechanics lab, Department of Oncology at King’s College London, where she got trained in the development and preclinical use of CAR T cell therapies for mesothelioma. Her research was supported by grants from the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund.

In 2013, she was awarded a BRC STEM Early Career Award, which allowed her to train as a visiting fellow in in vitro 3D mesothelioma models at the Lung Biology Center, UCSF, USA. In 2014, she was awarded the George Papanicolaou Young Investigator Award by the Hellenic Medical Association.

From 2015-2019 she worked as a Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Professor Steve Albelda’s lab at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), USA. Her research focused on developing CAR T cell therapies for mesothelioma and lung cancer, as well as the immunobiology of these malignancies with a focus on the function of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).

At the Institute of Cancer Research, Dr Klampatsa will apply her research expertise in immunotherapy to develop new CAR T cell therapies for mesothelioma and lung cancer, as well as investigating phenotypic and functional aspects of the immunobiology of mesothelioma for identification of markers of response to immunotherapy.

She has been a visiting senior lecturer at King’s College London since 2015. She is a member of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (IMIG), the European Association of Cancer Research (EACR) and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC).

She has taken part in House of Commons Asbestos Sub-Committee meetings (2004-2012) and in European Parliament conferences organised by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS).