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Anna Allen
Howard University
Anna received her B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studies from George Washington University in 2001, and her Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Biology in 2007. Her Ph.D. research was on the affects of a specific nuclear hormone receptor (HR39) in reproduction and sperm storage in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and was conducted under the guidance of Dr. Allan Spradling at the Carnegie Institution for Science- Department of Embryology. She then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Andy Golden at the National Institutes of Health, where she continued to follow her interests in reproduction by studying a conserved cell cycle regulator, WEE-1.3, involved in C. elegans meiosis and oocyte maturation. In Fall of 2012, she left her post-doc at NIH to take an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Biology at Howard University in Washington, DC. In Summer 2018 she was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor with the Department of Biology. She currently serves as Graduate Director for the Biology graduate program. Her lab website can be reached at: annaallenlab.com
At Howard University, she routinely teaches Developmental Biology (BIOL243) in the Fall semester, and Genetics (BIOL200) in the Spring semester. She has also taught and/or been involved in: Topics in Anatomy & Physiology (BIOL501, undergraduates), Topics in Developmental Biology (BIOG500, graduate students), and General Biology (BIOL101) for freshman. She is an active member of the Biology Honors Committee, and has served an instructor of record for numerous Honors courses throughout the years.
Outside of the University, Anna spends time with her family (husband Peter, two children- Stephanie and Theodore, and dog Trooper). She likes to read, go hiking, watch her kids’ sports games, and spend time with her friends and family
Website Content Contributions
Activity (1)
Worms Rule- Investigating variation in isoform function part of CUREnet:Institutes:Hampton University:Hampton CURE Examples
Integrating research into undergraduate science courses has been a long-term goal of many institutions. Research-based laboratory courses provide students with authentic research experiences while also helping them develop their analytical thinking and problem solving skills. Through these type of courses, students begin to understand and apply many fundamental concepts in biology while also contributing to the scientific field. To provide a research experience consisting of many common laboratory skills and the current buzz technique of CRISPR/Cas9 endogenous genome editing, we designed a one-semester research experience for undergraduates. By the end of a single semester, students enrolled in our upper level biology elective course successfully edited the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Throughout this course, students were exposed to molecular biology techniques (PCR, gel electrophoresis), imaging techniques (confocal microscopy), and CRISPR/Cas9 concept and techniques in C. elegans. Ultimately, the goal of this course was to provide students with a meaningful undergraduate research experience while generating reagents (namely C. elegans strains) that assist the instructor's personal research objectives.