Stories of Pride: Despina Kontos

In celebration of Pride Month, SPIE spoke with members of our community about their experiences as LGBTQ+ scientists in optics and photonics as well as within the greater STEM community. This conversation is with Despina Kontos (she/her/hers), the Matthew J. Wilson Professor of Research Radiology II and associate vice-chair for research at the Radiology Department of the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the symposium chair for the 2024 SPIE Medical Imaging conference in San Diego.

Despina received her Certificate of Engineering in computer engineering and informatics from the University of Patras in Greece, and her MSc and PhD degrees in computer science from Philadelphia’s Temple University. She completed her postdoctoral training in radiologic physics and biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania and received additional postgraduate training in cancer molecular biology and therapeutics from Harvard Medical School. She has published more than 100 papers in her field, as well as led several research studies funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute and private foundations.

Despina’s research focuses on leveraging the role of machine learning and AI in their roles of imaging as predictive biomarkers, guiding precision cancer screening, prognosis, and treatment. She integrates these with other emerging multi-omic biomarkers – such as molecular profiling and liquid biopsy – and electronic health records.

She lives in Pennsylvania with her wife and two children.

Is there an LGBTQ+ person in your life who has inspired you?

In the environment that I grew up in, there wasn't much LGBTQ+ visibility. Of course, there were legends out there, but not in my culture growing up in Greece. I grew up in Athens, where there were zero public figures in my environment who had come out, and nobody was out in my group of friends. So, my heroes are the everyday heroes: everybody who deals with this process of coming out and dealing with their environment is a hero, to some extent. I think we need so much more visibility, more inspiration, allowing more people to be themselves.

How can allies actively support LGBTQ+ scientists and engineers?

By creating the space for people to be able to be who they are and express themselves. We need to be supportive, not judgmental, and create opportunities for visibility, by applying active outreach for recruitment and supporting the growth of people across all types. I think it's also important for people who have established themselves academically to be out, because it helps others recognize that there is a place for everyone here, and that everyone can make it. I think we need to have the culture in our institutions of allowing that visibility, promoting and embracing it in every way. I think the biggest force of nature is the youngest generation: they’re much more open, much more gender-fluid, and I love it. I think it’s the future.

What is one piece of advice you can offer the LGBTQ+ scientists and engineers of the future?

Society has already put you in a box, so don’t put yourself in a box because of your identity. We feel the bias, and we put ourselves in our little corner to feel safer, but don’t think you’re worth less in science or any related fields because of your identity. Sometimes we limit ourselves without even realizing it.

I came from a very conservative background, and my own family still doesn’t fully accept me. Still. But once I came here to the States I thought, “I can’t do it anymore. I’m out and open and whatever they want to think, they can think.” And honestly, since I embraced this attitude, I haven't had any issues around it in my career. I will say I face more issues as a woman in academic medicine by far, in terms of unconscious biases, semi-conscious biases, and structural biases. So maybe I’ve been very lucky, for it probably isn’t everyone’s experience.

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