The CrickConnect team are delighted to be able to invite community members to join us for the institute's regular Crick Lecture.

Crick Lectures provide a broad insight into biomedical research from leading scientists. Not to be missed, the one-hour lectures are the event of the week for the Crick community to come together. The lectures aim to be accessible to scientists across different disciplines, while also offering something for the specialist.

This week, we're delighted to welcome Judi Allen, Professor of Immunobiology at the University of Manchester to give this week's Crick lecture, title to be confirmed. 

There will also be an opportunity to catch up with colleagues and friends over refreshments after the Lecture from 17:00. If you are able to join us in person at the Crick please let us know at connect@crick.ac.uk so we can arrange access.

Judi Allen

Judith Elizabeth Allen FRS FMedSci FRSE FRSB is a British scientist who is Professor of Immunobiology at the University of Manchester since 2016.She is an expert on macrophages activated during helminthiasis and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023.

Allen earned her undergraduate degree at Bates College.She was a doctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley where her PhD investigated cysteine-rich proteins of Chlamydia trachomatis.Allen spent several years in the biotechnology sector before joining Imperial College London as a postdoctoral researcher.In 1997, she was awarded a fellowship from the Medical Research Council and moved to the University of Edinburgh. She was made Professor of Immunobiology there in 2005.

Allen studies helminthiasis, a disease caused by helminth (parasitic worm) infection. The infection is associated with the induction of a type 2 immune response. Allen has identified macrophages with a specific type 2 expression profile, which are found both at the site of the infection and in injured tissue. The macrophage phenotype is influenced by the genotype of the host and the infected site. Allen discovered a relationship between the chitinase-like protein 3 YM1 and Interleukin 17, an inflammatory cytokine associated with autoimmune disease.