Biography:Christine Allen

From HandWiki
Christine Allen
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Ottawa (BS)
McGill University (PhD)
Academic work
DisciplinePharmacology
InstitutionsBC Cancer Agency
University of Toronto

Christine Allen is a Canadian professor and the first associate vice-president and vice-provost for strategic initiatives at the University of Toronto.[1] She served formerly as interim dean of the university's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. She is co-founder of Nanovista, a company focused on imaging of tumors.[2] She also works as the associate editor of Molecular Pharmaceutics.[3]

Education and career

Allen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Ottawa and a PhD in chemistry from McGill University. She completed a post doc in the Department of Advanced Therapeutics at the BC Cancer Agency.[4]

Career

Prior to joining the University of Toronto in 2002 she worked as a scientist and assistant directors of materials research at Celator Pharmaceuticals.[3] Allen's research is focused on the field of drug delivery, in particular, micelles and gold nanoparticles for cancer therapy.[5][6] She has developed several block-co-polymers, particularly those with PEG, for delivery of cancer chemotherapeutics.[5] For cancer imaging as well as theranostic applications, the Allen lab has developed several gold nanoparticle carriers.[6]

Awards and recognition

Her platforms apply concepts in drug delivery, targeted drug delivery, as well as controlled release. She has numerous patents, over 90 publications,[3] and has received many awards including:

  • Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences[7]
  • 2014 Gattefossé Canada/CSPS Award in Lipid-Based Drug Delivery[8]
  • 2011 CRS/Elsevier Journal of Controlled Release Jorge Heller Award for Outstanding Paper[9]
  • Innovation Award - Ontario Research and Commercialization Program, 2008
  • Career Award - Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)/Rx&D, 2004-2009
  • New Investigator Research Award - Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada (AFPC)/AstraZeneca, 2006
  • Early Career Award - Canadian Society for Pharmaceuticals Sciences (CSPS)/GlaxoSmithKline, 2006

References

  1. Kalvapalle, Rahul (July 5, 2019). "Christine Allen appointed U of T's first associate vice-president and vice-provost, strategic initiatives". U of T News. https://www.utoronto.ca/news/christine-allen-appointed-u-t-s-first-associate-vice-president-and-vice-provost-strategic. 
  2. "Christine Allen Women enabling science to reach the people who need it". https://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/blog/international-womens-day/christine-allen. Retrieved 30 July 2018. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Christine Allen". http://www.controlledreleasesociety.org/about/leadership/Pages/2014Nominees-ChristineAllen.aspx. Retrieved 30 July 2018. [yes|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  4. Government of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (2018-05-31). "NSERC - Christine Allen". http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-CRSNG/Council-Conseil/ChristineAllen_eng.asp. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Houdaihed, L; Evans, JC; Allen, C (2017). "Overcoming the Road Blocks: Advancement of Block Copolymer Micelles for Cancer Therapy in the Clinic.". Mol. Pharm. 14 (8): 2503–2517. doi:10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.7b00188. PMID 28481116. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Her, S; Jaffray, DA; Allen, C (2017). "Gold nanoparticles for applications in cancer radiotherapy: Mechanisms and recent advancements". Adv Drug Deliv Rev 109: 84–101. doi:10.1016/j.addr.2015.12.012. PMID 26712711. 
  7. Kalvapalle, Rahul (September 20, 2019). "10 U of T researchers named fellows of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences". U of T News. https://www.utoronto.ca/news/10-u-t-researchers-named-fellows-canadian-academy-health-sciences. 
  8. Dou, Yannan; Zheng, Jinzi; Foltz, Warren; Weersink, Robert; Chaudary, Naz; Jaffray, David; Allen, Christine (25 September 2011). "Heat-activated thermosensitive liposomal cisplatin (HTLC) results in effective growth delay of cervical carcinoma in mice". Journal of Controlled Release 178 (23): 69–78. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2014.01.009. PMID 24440663. 
  9. Dunn, Michael; Zheng, Jinzi; Rosenblat, Joshua; Jaffray, David; Allen, Christine (25 September 2011). "APN/CD13-targeting as a strategy to alter the tumor accumulation of liposomes". Journal of Controlled Release 154 (3): 298–305. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2011.05.022. PMID 21640146.