Summary
Koralia Paschalaki is a Clinical Research Fellow and Principal Investigator within Vascular Science at the National Heart and Lung Institute, and Honorary Consultant physician at Royal Brompton Hospital.
Dr Paschalaki qualified in Medicine from the University of Crete (Greece) and then completed specialist medical training in Respiratory Medicine in Athens. She was awarded a fellowship from Hellenic Thoracic Society in 2008 and joined Professor Peter Barnes’ group (Airway Disease) and Professor Anna Randi’s group (Vascular Science) to study endothelial progenitor dysfunction in patients with COPD as part of her PhD project.
Dr Paschalaki has a particular interest in the molecular mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease, since cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in patients with chronic lung disease including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). She has developed her own scientific niche, focussing on the molecular pathways on DNA damage and senescence as contributors to vascular ageing and cardiovascular disease in chronic lung disorders. Using endothelial progenitors named endothelial colony forming cells (ECFC) or blood outgrowth endothelial cells (BOEC), she has provided the first evidence of accelerated endothelial ageing and epigenetic dysfunction in smokers and patients with COPD, giving novel insight into the development of cardiovascular disease in these groups. Her aim is to further investigate the mechanisms of endothelial progenitors’ dysfunction and vascular ageing as contributors to atherosclerosis, and identify possible pharmacological treatments to target cardiovascular disease.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Havaki S, Evangelou K, Paschalaki K, et al., 2022, Reply: Identification of coronavirus particles by electron microscopy: a complementary tool for deciphering COVID-19, European Respiratory Journal, Vol:60, ISSN:0903-1936
Evangelou K, Veroutis D, Paschalaki K, et al., 2022, Pulmonary infection by SARS-CoV-2 induces senescence accompanied by an inflammatory phenotype in severe COVID-19: possible implications for viral mutagenesis, European Respiratory Journal, Vol:60, ISSN:0903-1936
Paschalaki K, Rossios C, Pericleous C, et al., 2022, Inhaled corticosteroids reduce senescence in endothelial progenitor cells from COPD patients, Thorax, Vol:77, ISSN:0040-6376
Lodge K, Vassallo A, Liu B, et al., 2022, Hypoxia increases the potential for neutrophil-mediated endothelial damage in COPD, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol:205, ISSN:1073-449X
Guy A, Danaee A, Paschalaki K, et al., 2020, Absence of JAK2V617F mutated endothelial colony-forming cells in patients with JAK2V617F myeloproliferative neoplasms and splanchnic vein thrombosis, Hemasphere, Vol:4, ISSN:2572-9241, Pages:1-4
Paschalaki KE, Randi AM, 2018, Recent advances in endothelial colony forming cells toward their use in clinical translation, Frontiers in Medicine, Vol:5, ISSN:2296-858X
Paschalaki KE, Zampetaki A, Baker JR, et al., 2017, Downregulation of MicroRNA-126 Augments DNA Damage Response in Cigarette Smokers and COPD Patients., Am J Respir Crit Care Med
Mollet IG, Patel D, Govani FS, et al., 2016, Low Dose Iron Treatments Induce a DNA Damage Response in Human Endothelial Cells within Minutes, PLOS One, Vol:11, ISSN:1932-6203
Paschalaki KE, Jacob J, Wells AU, 2016, Monitoring of lung involvement in rheumatologic disease, Respiration, Vol:91, ISSN:1423-0356, Pages:89-98
Reed DM, Paschalaki KE, Starke RD, et al., 2015, An autologous endothelial cell: peripheral blood mononuclear cell assay that detects cytokine storm responses to biologics, The FASEB Journal, Vol:29, ISSN:0892-6638, Pages:2595-2602
Paschalaki KE, Starke RD, Hu Y, et al., 2013, Dysfunction of endothelial progenitor cells from smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients due to increased DNA damage and senescence, Stem Cells, Vol:31, ISSN:1066-5099, Pages:2813-2826
Starke RD, Paschalaki KE, Dyer CE, et al., 2013, Cellular and molecular basis of von Willebrand disease: studies on blood outgrowth endothelial cells, Blood, Vol:121, Pages:2773-2784
Starke RD, Ferraro F, Paschalaki KE, et al., 2011, Endothelial von Willebrand factor regulates angiogenesis, Blood, Vol:117, ISSN:0006-4971, Pages:1071-1080
Conference
Khawaja A, Maughan R, Paschalaki K, et al., 2022, People living with HIV have higher frequencies of circulating endothelial colony-forming cells: steps towards patient-specific models to evaluate cardiovascular risk, WILEY, Pages:39-39, ISSN:1464-2662
Paschalaki K, Evangelou K, Veroutis D, et al., 2021, Alveolar type II cells harbouring SARS-CoV-2 show senescence with a proinflammatory phenotype, EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN:0903-1936
Khawaja AA, Maughan RT, Paschalaki KE, et al., 2020, Modelling endothelial function in vitro and via blood sampling to evaluate cardiovascular risk in people living with HIV, WILEY, Pages:39-39, ISSN:1464-2662