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Summer Programs
Summer Programs
Since its inception, the Allen Lab has welcomed students into the lab during the summer months. The lab has been fortunate to have both high school students as well as visiting undergraduate students. In addition, with support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Allen was able to run a summer REU in her lab. More recently, with support form the American Heart Association, Dr. Allen is able to continue that work.
Some of the summer research experiences are listed below
Mentorship
Mentorship
Dr. Allen is passionate about mentorship and supporting both students as well as early career faculty. She has engaged in mentorship programs around the country and within her professional societies.
Some of the mentorship activities are indicated below
Advocacy
Advocacy
Dr. Allen is an advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in the STEM field both in the research we are doing as well as in the people doing the research. She works to increase awareness of health disparities, the lack of diversity within STEM, and the need to include diversity in study design.
Some of the work Dr. Allen does are listed below
Service and Community Engagement
Service and Community Engagement
One of the more impactful way to promote greater engagement in the STEM field and motivate the next generation is to get out and engage with the community. Dr. Allen and members of the Allen Lab participate in several community engagement activities designed to promote our work and get kids and the community excited about the great work we are doing in the lab.
Some of the community engagement activities are listed below
Summer Programs
Summer Programs
Dr. Allen with the first cohort (Summer 2024) of AHA summer students. Pictured above are Barbara Stewart (UCF), Isabelle Gilbert (UT Austin, Michael Webb (Rollins College), Jack Girton (Iowa State University), and Andrea Noy (UF).
AHA Summer Training Program
AHA Summer Training Program
Dr. Allen received a three year award to support summer students working in labs at UF on projects related to cardiovascular health and disease. The program entitled "Cardiovascular Research Summer Scholars Training Program" (CRSSTP) will run for 3 summers and encludes funding to support five students per summer. The CRSSTP also includes professional development programming such as, ethics in research, Research Design & Best Practices, Translational Research: How ideas get to the market, Communicating your research: Basics of Elevator Pitches, and time management, grad school applications and admissions. We are excited to support these scholars as they consider the next steps in the professional journey.
Summer UF SURF Program
Summer UF SURF Program
The Allen lab is excited to support the University of Florida Summer Undergraduate Research at Florida (SURF) program and students. This represents another avenue by which our lab can mentor and guide students early in their careers. Our most recent SURF student (summer 2023), Shannon Bertin, who joined our lab from Rutgers University had a great experience at UF and working in Allen lab. We are proud of our Allen Lab SURF alumni!
Allen Lab summer REU for URM students
Allen Lab summer REU for URM students
Dr. Allen utilized her NSF Career Award to host an summer Research experience for undergraduates (REU) for 4 consecutive years. The focus was on students from minority serving institutions, who are looking to come to UF for a hands-on research experience. During the 4 year program we sponsored four undergraduate students, Saleigh Derico, Jeffrey Butler, Gabriella Alvarez, and Brandon Applewhite. There students have gone on to do amazing things, including completing their graduate degrees and holding positions at companies such as Boeing! We are so proud of our Allen Lab REU alumni!
Read more about one of our scholars, Gabriella Alvarez here
High School Students in SSTP Program
High School Students in SSTP Program
The Allen lab welcomes eager high school students to work in the lab during the summer months as part of the UF Summer Scientist Training Program (SSTP). Our visiting students have enjoyed the research experience, some have published manuscripts, some have gone on to engineering programs for undergraduate school, and some have gone into Ph.D. programs!
We are proud of our Allen lab high school student alumni!
Mentorship
Mentorship
Early Career Faculty Mentorship
Early Career Faculty Mentorship
Since 2021, Dr. Allen has been a senior mentor with the Florida Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (FL-AGEP) at the University of South Florida (USF) partner institution. As a senior mentor, Dr. Allen engages with early career women faculty, post-docs, and graduate students in their "Research Bootcamp" to provide feedback, support and guide them as they navigate their careers.
Dr. Allen pictured with students from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA.
Engagement with minority serving institutions
Engagement with minority serving institutions
Representation Matters! Dr. Allen attended Howard University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) during a portion of her undergraduate career, and looks forward to visiting minority serving institutions where she can meet with students, recruit for graduate school, and share her "story" of her non-traditional path to the professoriate and the resilience it took to get there.
“Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”
Michele Obama
from her 2018 memoir, "Becoming"
advocacy
advocacy
published work
published work
Our message....
#CiteBlackScientists
Collaborate with Black scientists
Promote the work of Black scientists
Get to know Black scientists
Score Black scientists well
#FundBlackScientists
Respect individual’s authentic selves
Learn about racism and anti-racism
Value that diversity drives innovation
Lets all keep learning and advocating
published work
published work
Dr. Allen along with Dr. Erika Moore, Dr. Elizabeth Wayne, and Dr. Connie Mulligan urge the biomedical field to consider genetic ancestry as part of experimental design to ensure the work has maximum impact.
published essay
published essay
Dr. Allen along with graduate student, Bryan James wrote an essay to highlight the lack of inclusion of sex as a biological variable in biomaterial studies. The essay not only points out the lack of inclusion but also advocates for the inclusion of sex and the reporting of sex in biomaterial studies.
media
media
Ancestry matters . . . even at the cellular level
In this episode of "From Florida", Allen and Moore discuss why genetic diversity is important to medical research. Produced by Nicci Brown, Brooke Adams and James L. Sullivan. Original music by Daniel Townsend, a doctoral candidate in music composition in the College of the Arts.
media
media
Genetic Ancestry With Dr. Erika Moore and Dr. Josephine Allen
Interview discussing the importance of studying genetic ancestry in biomedical engineering.
Community Engagement
Community Engagement
Middle School Kitchen Science
Middle School Kitchen Science
Dr. Allen and her team bring "the lab" to the students in middle school!
Over a 2 day visit to a local middle school the Allen lab team does "kitchen science". Using "jello" to represent a hydrogel and lemon juice to promote degradation and food coloring to study diffusion, the students get a sense of studying biomaterial science in a fun and engaging way. This work was made possible with funding from the National Science Foundation, Career award to Allen.
Engagement with Community College
Engagement with Community College
Dr. Allen has participated in the Santa Fe Community College to University of Florida (SF2UF) bridge program to meet with students and provide a seminar. Dr. Allen never misses an opportunity to share with students the importance of resiliency and as she puts it "getting back up" after being knocked down in life. Check out Dr. Allen's seminar discussing her non-traditional path to "Greatness"!
Science Café
Science Café
Community engagement is an important part of the job! It is important that as researchers we engage with the community and share the work we are doing and the convey the impact our work can have on their lives. With support and an invitation from graduate student Bryan James and Juliette Experton, in 2018 Dr. Allen presented at the American Chemical Society Science Cafe at a local brewary in Gainesville, Fl.
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