June 4, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Parkinson's Association of Alabama (PAA) has named Heather Allen, a pre-doctoral scholar in the Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics (CNET) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

After graduating from Emory University in 2008, Allen is in her second year in the UAB Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).

Allen is the second pre-doctoral scholar funded by the PAA at UAB. Working in the laboratory of David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., her research focuses on understanding how the immune system contributes to the progression of Parkinson's disease, with a particular interest in the role of complement activation. Her goal is to describe the mechanism of complement involvement, leading to potential news targets for immune system-based therapies.

About UAB

Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is the state of Alabama's largest employer and an internationally renowned research university and academic health center whose professional schools and specialty patient care programs are consistently ranked as among the nation's top 50; find more information at www.uab.edu and www.uabmedicine.org.