Profile
After graduating from the University of Melbourne, B.Sc., M.Sc.(prelim) and Ph.D in 1990, I pursued further research, as a C.J. Martin fellow, at the University of Ottawa, Canada (Regulation of vasopressin secretion), the University of Virginia, USA (Regulation of sympathetic activity to the vasculature) and the Howard Florey Institute. In 1995 I was awarded an NH&MRC R.D. Wright fellowship and continued to run my laboratory as an NH&MRC Fellow through until 2005. In 2005 I moved my laboratory to the Department of Physiology and was appointed Senior Lecturer and then Associate Professor/ Reader in 2009.
Teaching
510-110 Principles of Biomedical Science; PBL tutor.
516-209 Introductory Neuroscience; Co-convenor
536-250 Integrated Biomedical Science
536-301 Cardiovascular Health
536-302 Molecular Neurophysiology
536-303 Neurophysiology of Behaviour
536-311 Molecular/Cellular Basis of Physiology
536-304 Experimental Physiology
Service to the University, discipline
or community and recent presentations
Research Representative: Department Committee
Treasurer: International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience
Member: Scientific Program Advisory Group of the Australian Neuroscience Society
Academic Representative: Environmental Health and Safety Committee
Co-ordinator: Departmental Quality of Teaching Surveys
Research
Profile, Interests and Recent Publications
My overarching research interest is to understand how neural circuits in the central nervous system interact to produce complex behaviours. My current focus is on the circuitry that generates and regulates sympathetic activity to the cardiovascular system. This is one of the simpler mammalian CNS circuits with defined inputs and outputs that can be readily measured. There are three main foci: 1) How is sympathetic activity generated? 2) Which nuclei contribute to the generation of basal sympathetic activity? 3) What role do particular brain cell groups play in cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension? Interest in the physiology of brain circuits regulating cardiovascular function has lead to an involvement in trying to understand the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases and potentially to the development of new therapies for treatment of these diseases.
Recent Publications:
• Richardson RJ, Grkovic I, Allen AM, Anderson CR. Separate neurochemical classes of sympathetic postganglionic neurons project to the ventricle of the rat heart. Cell Tissue Res. 2006; 324: 9-16.
• Allen AM, Dosanjh J, Dassanayake S, Tan G, Thomas WG. Baroreceptor reflex stimulation does not induce cytomegalovirus promoter-driven transgene expression in the ventrolateral medulla in vivo. Auton. Neurosci. 2006; 126-127: 150-155.
• Allen AM, Dosanjh J, Erac M, Dassanayake S, Hannan RD, Thomas WG. Expression of constitutively active angiotensin receptors in the rostral ventrolateral medulla increases blood pressure. Hypertension 2006; 47: 1054-1061.
• Steinberg GR, Watt MJ, Fam BC, Prioetto J, Andrikopoulos S, Allen AM, Fabbraio MA, Kemp BE. Ciliary neurotrophic factor suppresses hypothalamic AMP-kinase signaling in leptin resistant obese mice. Endocrinology 2006; 147: 3906-3914.
• Oldfield BJ, Allen AM, Davern P, Giles ME, Owens N. Lateral hypothalamic “command neurons” with axonal projections to regions involved in both feeding and thermogenesis. Eur. J. Neurosci. 2007; 25: 2404-2412.
• Allen AM, O’Callaghan EL, Hazelwood L, Germain S, Castrop H, Schnermann J, Bassi J. Distribution of cells expressing human renin promoter activity in the brain of a transgenic mouse. Brain Res. 2008 (in press)
• Sevigny CP, Bassi J, Teschemacher AG, Kim K-S, Williams DA , Anderson CR, Allen AM. C1 Neurons in the Rat Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla Differentially Express Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2 in Soma and Axonal Compartments. Eur. J. Neurosci. 2008; 28: 1536-1544.
• Stefanidis A, Verty ANA, Allen AM, Owens NC, Cowley MC, Oldfield BJ. The role of thermogenesis in antipsychotic drug induced weight gain. Obesity 2008 (in press).
• Ryall JG, Schertzer JD, Allen AM, Lynch GS. Chronic β2-agonist administration impairs cardiac relaxation via reduced SR Ca2+-ATPase activity. Am. J. Physiol. (Heart) 2008; 294: H2587-H2595.
• Verty ANA, Allen AM, Oldfield BJ. The effect of the cannabinoid receptor antagonist SR 141716 (rimonabant) on energy expenditure. Obesity 2008 (in press).
• McKinley MJ, Walker LL, Alexiou T, Allen AM, Campbell DJ, DiNicolantonio R, Oldfield BJ, Denton DA. Osmoregulatory fluid intake but not hypovolemic thirst is intact in mice lacking angiotensin. Am. J. Physiol. 2008; 294: R1533-R1543.
• Allen AM, O’Callaghan EL, Chen D, Bassi JK. Central neural regulation of cardiovascular function by angiotensin- a focus on the rostral ventrolateral medulla. J. Neuroendocrinol. 2008 (in press)
• Allen, AM, Chai SY and Mendelsohn FAO. Neuronal Angiotensin, in. L. Squire, T. Albright, F. Bloom, F. Gage, N. Spitzer (eds): The New Encyclopedia of Neuroscience 2008 (in press).
• McKinley, MJ, Allen AM, Oldfield BJ. Angiotensin actions on and within the brain. in. L. Squire, T. Albright, F. Bloom, F. Gage, N. Spitzer (eds): The New Encyclopedia of Neuroscience 2008 (in press)
Research
Funding
NH&MRC project grant (2007-2009) Respiratory modulation of RVLM premotor neurons: role in the sympathetic over-activity of hypertension.
NHF Project grant (2008,2009) Modulation of sympathetic vasomotor tone in pre-hypertensive rats: understanding the role of locally-formed angiotensin II in the brain.
NHMRC project grant (2009-2011) Regulation of sympathetic vasomotor function by brain angiotensin: cell-specific
Supervisor
Mark Hargreaves
Currently
Supervised Staff/Students
Charles Sevigny
Jaspreet Dosanjh
Erin OCallaghan
Annabel Simms
Daian Chen
Nilanka Hettigoda
Yu Soh
