The Educator Higher Education received hundreds of nominations for the best education professionals in the higher education sector across the country. Among the fifty most influential education professionals is Greek Australian researcher, Professor Vasso Apostolopoulos, honoured for her significant contributions to the sector over the past 12 months.
The world-renowned, multi-awarded researcher was acclaimed for her extensive expertise in immunology, x-ray crystallography, medicinal chemistry, cellular biology, molecular biology, as well as extensive translational research expertise with development of drugs and vaccines.
One of her significant achievements is the development of the concept of immunotherapy for cancer, which aims to boost specific immune cells and program them to kill cancer cell. This treatment, which is now being used by hundreds of labs around the world, has also been used by Professor Apostolopoulos to develop two world’s first vaccines – breast cancer vaccine and ovarian cancer vaccine. In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Apostolopoulos and her team in Victoria University’s Immunology & Translational research are now focusing their efforts on investigating and working on vaccines and drugs to treat the virus.
READ MORE: Trailblazing Greek Australian Dr Vasso Apostolopoulos making strides in COVID-19 research
Some of the awards Professor Apostolopoulos has received include Premier’s Award for Medical Research, Young Australian of the Year (Vic), Greek Australian of the Year, and Woman of the Year. She was named as one of the most successful Greeks abroad by the prestigious Times magazine.
Her name could not be missing from this list of the best who grabbed the academic spotlight for numerous contributions ranging from championing the latest tech innovations, establishing new standards of best practice in Australian education, demonstrating educational leadership, to coming up with outstanding research and research impact.