William Allen BSc PGCHET PhD FHEA

Administrative Responsibilites: I play a significant role in administration and management.  These roles are chiefly related to the Postgraduate Taught programmes and the BSc programmes delivered by the School, but I also play a role in the oversight of  Research Ethics both at School and Central University level.  The details of my activities are listed below.

Centre for Biomedical Sciences Education

Programme coordinator for BSc Human Biology

Student Consultative Committee (SSCC)

Learning and Teaching Committee (SLTC)

BSc Biomedical Science / Human Biology / Medical Science Examination Board

Centre for Medical Education

Portfolio Management Group

Postgraduate Education & Professional Development

Deputy Chair Postgraduate Taught Board

Chair Postgraduate Taught Examination Boards

Chair Postgraduate Taught Exceptional Circumstances Committee

Member of Postgraduate Management Team Committee

Member of MSc Clinical Anatomy Management Committee

Programme Director MRes Molecular Medicine

School Level Responsibilities

School Research Ethics Committee

University Level Responsibilities

University Research Ethics Committee

Professional Society Membership

The Anatomical Society of Great Britain & Ireland

Diabetes UK (Professional Section)

The British Society for Cell Biology

International Society for Stem Cell Research

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK

Laboratory:

I am interested in the control and mechanisms of cell migration with particular emphasis on the actin cytoskeleton and the small Rho family GTPases. I have looked at how cell migration is modified in and or contributes to a number of medically significant conditions including breast cancer and Type 2 Diabetes. Currently I am investigating how exposure to elevated glucose concentrations affects the cytoskeleton and migration of endothelial cells potentially contributing to the increased vascular pathology suffered by diabetics.

Over my career I have published a number of highly cited papers in high impact journals, some of which are Citation Classics.

Educational:

I coordinate the final year Research Project module for the BSc Biomedical Science and BSc Human Biology programmes. I am currently looking at how academic performance in the first 2 years of the degree predicts the performance in the research project. I am also interested in how well the 3rd year Research project prepares students for postgraduate research and performance with the aim of determining if more emphasis should be put on performance in this aspect of the undergraduate degree, rather than overall degree outcome when offering places and or studentships for postgraduate research.

I play a major role in the organization and delivery of the three BSc programmes run by the Centre for Biomedical Sciences Education (BSc Biomedical Science, BSc Human Biology & iBSc Medical Science).  I currently coordinate four BSc modules, one of which is the double module final year research project.  I also teach on two additional BSc modules.  I am Programme Coordinator for BSc Human Biology, a role that involves me sitting on the Learning & Teaching and the Staff Student Consultative Committees for the BSc programmes.

I also play a major role in the School's Postgraduate Taught programmes.  I am Deputy Director  for Postgraduate Taught Education which involves me acting as Deputy Chair of the Postgraduate Taught Board, Chair of PGT examination Boards and Chair of the PGT Exceptional Circumstances Committee.  I was also the Programme Director for the MRes in Molecular Medicine.  I coordinated four modules for the MRes Molecular Medicine and one module for the MSc in Clinical Anatomy.  I also teach on a module for the MRes Translational Medicine programme.

I contribute to the Student Selected Component (SSC) programme for 1st and 2nd year Medical Students.  In this role I offer an innovative SSC on Human Evolution, which has become one of the most popular 1st year SCCs.

I have also in the past contributed to both the Dental and nursing programmes, and to the BSc Genetics programme.

I have been elected to Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Major Education Roles: 

Programme Coordinator for BSc Human Biology

Adviser of Studies for MSc in Interprofessional Health Care Management

Module Coordination:

Module Coordinator BMS3012 - BSc Research Project

Module Coordinator BMS3015 - Scientific Literature Review 

Module Coordinator BMS3003 - Developmental Studies

Module Coordinator BMS2015 - Molecular Cell Biology

Module Coordinator SCM8076 - Evolution of the Human Body

Student Selected Component (SSC) Coordination:

MED1021 - 1st year SSC (Human Evolution)

MED2016 - 2nd year SSC (Cell Migration & Chemotaxis)

Other Teaching - I also contribute to the following modules:

BMS3024 - Tissue Biology & Pathology

BMS2026 - Cells & Tissues

SCM7052 - Genomics, Cell Biology & Human Disease

External Teaching:

Guest Lecturer - School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK