Summary
Allan completed his PhD “The effects of ultrasound on vascular gene delivery” (Supervisor - Prof Chris Newman) in the Department of Cardiovascular Science at the University of Sheffield in 2002. Allan followed this with a post-doctoral position with Prof Marlene Rabinovitch at Stanford University, California where he developed an interest in the molecular mechanisms of Pulmonary Hypertension.
Allan returned to the University of Sheffield in 2004 to establish a translational science research programme in Pulmonary Hypertension. Allan has been successful in obtaining early career and senior Fellowships from the Medical Research Council and British Heart Foundation focused on understanding the role of the osteoprotegerin (OPG) / tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand (TRAIL) axis in PH. Allan also obtained a Medical Research Council DPFS award to co-develop a novel therapeutic antibody targeting OPG for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. Working closely colleagues in Sheffield all co-launched and Directed the formation of the Donald Heath Centre for Pulmonary Hypertension research.
Allan moved to the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London in April 2022.
Research Interests
Allan maintains a strong interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying pulmonary hypertension with a firm focus on translation in areas of novel therapies, biomarkers.
Allan has also developed an interest in the use of ‘Real-World’ data including healthcare resource utilisation and personal monitoring (activity) data to improve early disease detection and monitoring. Working across academia and industry partners Allan's research has utilised artificial intelligence and machine learning models to develop algorithms that can be applied to NHS Coding data (Hospital Episode Statistics), 'Omic data, and most recently personal activity data to identify clusters and trajectories of patients.
Allan current research is focused around the heterogeneity that exists across socioeconomic groups, physical activity, clinical phenotype, and biology with the aim of developing digital biomarkers for cardiovascular disease that can help predict and monitor disease, and hospitalisation.
Internal Professional Activities
Allan sits on the Executive Committee for the Imperial British Heart Foundation Centre of Excellence, is a Co-Director of the British Heart Foundation 4-year Doctoral Training Programme, and represents NHLI on the Faculty of Medicine Research Committee.
External Professional Activities
In addition to serving on grant panels and an active manuscript reviewer all is a Fellow of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute, sits on the Research committee, and is a Trustee of the Board of Scleroderma & Raynaud's UK.
Publications
Journals
Brightling CE, Evans RA, Singapuri A, et al., 2023, Long COVID research: an update from the PHOSP-COVID Scientific Summit., Lancet Respir Med, Vol:11, Pages:e93-e94
Welch CL, Aldred MA, Balachandar S, et al., 2023, Defining the clinical validity of genes reported to cause pulmonary arterial hypertension, Genetics in Medicine, Vol:25, ISSN:1098-3600
Khassafi F, Chelladurai P, Valasarajan C, et al., 2023, Transcriptional profiling unveils molecular subgroups of adaptive and maladaptive right ventricular remodeling in pulmonary hypertension, Nature Cardiovascular Research, Vol:2, Pages:917-936
Jackson C, Stewart ID, Plekhanova T, et al., 2023, Effects of sleep disturbance on dyspnoea and impaired lung function following hospital admission due to COVID-19 in the UK: a prospective multicentre cohort study, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, Vol:11, ISSN:2213-2600, Pages:673-684