Research Focus
Lee-Ann H. Allen, PhD, EVPR and Professor is nationally and internationally recognized for studies of human neutrophils and macrophages and their manipulation by bacterial pathogens including Helicobacter pylori, which causes peptic ulcers and gastric cancer, and Francisella tularensis, a candidate bioweapon that causes the zoonosis tularemia. This work has been continuously funded by NIH and the VA for nearly three decades leading to the discovery of new mechanisms of phagocytosis and membrane trafficking, multifaceted strategies for disruption of NADPH oxidase activity and, most recently, studies of pathogen exploitation of neutrophil plasticity and manipulation of cell death mechanisms as key virulence strategies. Dr. Allen is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Academy of Microbiology, a member of the FASEB Board of Directors and former President of the Society for Leukocyte Biology.