Kathleen B. Allen, Ph.D.

Dr. Allen's area of expertise includes the response of biological systems to mechanical stimuli, from the macroscale (organism) level down to the microscale (cellular) level. At Exponent, Dr. Allen’s work has focused on human kinematics and injury mechanisms in motor vehicle, forklift, and slip-and-fall accidents. Additionally, she has investigated the mechanical failure of the heart during mitral valve replacement surgeries involving both mechanical and biological prostheses. Dr. Allen completed both her bachelor and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering, and her studies focused in solid mechanics, dynamics, human physiology, and computer simulation.

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Allen was a research assistant in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, working in the Cell and Protein Mechanics Laboratory. Additionally, she has worked as a research assistant at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and at the National Nanotechnology Laboratories in Lecce, Italy. Dr. Allen’s interdisciplinary research has focused on problems that lie along the interface of engineering and medical technologies. Her work has included a wide range of elements, including micromanipulation, nanomanipulation, high resolution imaging, and computer simulation. By applying the fundamental theories of mechanics to biological membranes and vesicles, Dr. Allen worked to minimize the damage that cells experience during single-cell manipulation and injection.

Allen KB, Layton BE. Determination of the forces imposed by micro and nanopipettes during DOPC: DOPS Liposome Manipulation. Chem Phys Lipids 2009; 162:34–52.

Allen KB, Sasoglu FM, Layton BD. Cytoskeleton-membrane interactions in neuronal growth cones: A finite element analysis study. ASME J Biomechanical Eng 2009 Feb; 131(2):021006.

Sasoglu FM, Bohl A, Allen KB, Layton BD. Parallel force measurement with a polymeric microbeam array using an optical microscope and micromanipulator. Computer Methods Programs in Biomedicine 2009 Jan; 93(1):1–8.

Published Abstracts

Allen KB, Layton BE. A mechanical model for cytoskeleton membrane interactions. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Seattle, WA, November 11–15, 2007.

Sasoglu FM, Kilinc D, Allen KB, Layton BE. Parallel force measurement in cell arrays. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Seattle, WA, November 11–15, 2007.

Sasoglu FM, Kilinc D, Allen KB, Layton BD. Towards a method for printing a network of chick forebrain neurons for biosensor applications. IEEE-EMBC Annual Meeting, Lyon, France, August 23–26, 2007.

Allen KB, Sasoglu FM, Layton BE. Mechanical neural growth models. ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Orlando, FL, November 5–11, 2005.

Layton BE, Allen KB, Stokes MD, Myers KA, Baas PW. Towards a method for peripheral nervous system axonal stiffness measurements with MEMS-based microgrippers. 2nd Annual IEEE-EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, Arlington, VA, March 16–19, 2005.

Presentations

Allen KB, Layton BD. A mechanical model for cytoskeleton and membrane interactions in neuronal growth cones. ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Seattle, WA, November 11–15, 2007.

Allen KB, Layton BE. A mechanical model for cytoskeleton membrane interactions. The Drexel Engineering Research Symposium, Philadelphia, PA, April 13, 2007.

Allen KB. What is engineering? Invited talk at Lindenwold Middle School, Lindenwold, NJ, March 2007.

Allen KB. Hosted workshop on using Matlab^® to model protein assembly and dynamics at the IEEE-EMBS/ASME Workshop on Nanoscale Modeling and Measurement of Mechanical Properties of Cells and Proteins Workshop, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, September 2006.

Allen KB, Layton BE. Mechanical axonal growth models: Towards directed neural growth and highly parallel piconewton force transduction. Invited talk at National Nanotechnology Laboratories, Lecce, Italy, July 2006.

Allen KB, Layton BE. Mechanical neural growth models. BMES Fall Meeting, Baltimore MD, September 29, 2005.

Allen KB, Hubmayr R, Boriek AM. Effects of lung volume, muscle activation, and posture on the kinematics of the lower canine rib cage. American Thoracic Society 2005 International Conference, San Diego, CA, May 20–25, 2005.

Allen KB, Layton BE. Microtubule polymerization, and single cell micromanipulation. A.J. Drexel Institute of Basic and Applied Protein Science 3rd Annual Protein Institute Retreat, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, June 16, 2005.

• Research Assistant, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, 2004–2008
• Research Assistant, Soft Matter Nanotechnology Division, Lecce, Italy, June–August, 2007
• Research Assistant, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, July–September, 2004
• Manufacturing Engineer Assistant, Merck Manufacturing Division, 2002–2003
• Research Assistant, Merck Research Laboratories, 2000–2002
  

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers