Professor Karen Allen

Professor of ChemistryAllen_forweb-200x300

Karen N. Allen received her B.S. degree in Biology, from Tufts University and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Brandeis University in the laboratory of the mechanistic enzymologist, Dr. Robert H. Abeles, Following her desire to see enzymes in action she pursued X-ray crystallography during postdoctoral studies as an American Cancer Society Fellow in the laboratory of Drs. Gregory A. Petsko and Dagmar Ringe. Since 1993 she has lead her own research team at Boston University, first in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the School of Medicine, and since 2008 in the Department of Chemistry She is also on the faculty of the Bioinformatics programs at Boston University.

The structure-aided design approach in the Allen lab encompasses the use of macromolecular X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering, molecular modeling, and kinetics. Projects include design of inhibitors of Botulinum Protease light-chain serotypes A and B and targets in inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, including Keap-1 and NEMO.