Yolanda Calle

Dr. Yolanda Calle serves as a Senior Lecturer at the School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Roehampton, where she leads groundbreaking research on tumor microenvironment dynamics in hematological malignancies and bone-metastatic cancers. Her work bridges molecular cell biology with translational oncology, focusing on adhesion-mediated drug resistance mechanisms while teaching core courses in Molecular and Cell Biology.

Her academic foundation includes:

• BSc in Biology from the University of the Basque Country, Spain (1992)
• PhD in Cell Biology from the University of the Basque Country, Spain (1998)

Dr. Calle's laboratory investigates cytoskeletal remodeling and adhesion signaling pathways in multiple myeloma, acute myeloid leukemia, and bone-metastatic cancers (prostate, breast, colorectal). Her team studies how tumor-stromal interactions drive proliferation, drug resistance, and osteolytic bone destruction, with particular emphasis on myeloma-associated osteoclast activation and tumor-associated myeloid cells. She pioneers heterotypic co-culture models for high-throughput drug screening, validated through in vivo myeloma mouse models to identify novel therapeutic targets.

Analysis of her 2023-2025 publications reveals three dominant research thrusts: (1) Stromal-induced cancer cell plasticity mechanisms in AML, (2) Xenobiotic metabolism's role in leukemia microenvironment regulation, and (3) Development of engineered biotherapeutics. Her work consistently connects fundamental adhesion biology with clinical translation, targeting currently incurable bone-metastatic disease manifestations through innovative drug discovery platforms.

Dr. Calle has secured competitive funding as Principal Investigator from Cancer Research UK (2011-2013, 2015-2017) and as Co-applicant from Wellcome Trust (2003-2006, 2007-2010) and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research (2013-2016). She currently supervises four postgraduate researchers including PhD candidate Ghazala Abbasi-Rana and hosted academic visitor Eduardo Krebs Kleingesinds in 2020, demonstrating active mentorship beyond formal advising.

Leading the adhesion dynamics research group within Roehampton's Centre for Integrated Research in Life and Health Sciences, she maintains strategic collaborations with King's College London and Oxford University. Her team's current focus involves expanding co-culture screening platforms to prostate and breast cancer bone metastases while developing clinical translation pathways for identified therapeutic targets through preclinical validation studies.