Judi Allen
Judith Allen is a parasite immunologist with a proven track record in communicating with evolutionary biologists, incorporating their ideas into her research and training PhD students and postdocs to communicate across these disciplines. Prof Allen is also a member of the National Science Foundation funded research coordination network in ecoimmunology, where she acts as a representative of ‘mainstream’ immunology. She is acutely aware of the challenges of cross-disciplinary research, not only through conceptual misunderstandings, but more subtle differences in experimental style, manuscript preparation and jargon usage. These apparently small differences can prove to be major stumbling blocks to publication that discourage young researchers attempting to bridge those divides. As such, Prof Allen is well placed to mentor PhD students entering a Wild Immunology programme.
Major Research Topics in the Allen Lab:
· Alternatively-activated macrophages: migration dynamics and functions
· The interface between macrophage function and host metabolism
· The evolution of Th2 immunity and its role in wound healing and homeostasis
· Chitinases and chitinase-like molecules in the immune response
· Development of Vaccines against Filariasis (with S Babayan & D Taylor)
· Digital transcriptomics of macrophages (with M Blaxter)
· MicroRNAs in the regulation of macrophage function (With A Buck)
· Dendritic cell modulation by cestode parasites (with A Diaz & A MacDonald)
The Allen Lab