Dame Ingrid Victoria Allen, (30 June 1932 – 21 April 2020) was Professor Emerita of Neuropathology at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. She is mostly known for her research in

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

neurodegeneration A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

neurovirology Neurovirology is an interdisciplinary field which represents a melding of clinical neuroscience, virology, immunology, and molecular biology. The main focus of the field is to study viruses capable of infecting the nervous system. In addition to thi ...

and

demyelinating disease A demyelinating disease is any disease of the nervous system in which the myelin sheath of neurons is damaged. This damage impairs the conduction of signals in the affected nerves. In turn, the reduction in conduction ability causes deficiency i ...

s, such as

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

Education and early life

Allen was born in Belfast in 1932. Her parents were the Reverend Robert Allen and Doris Allen. She attended Ashley Prep Belfast an
Cheltenham Ladies College
before going on to study medicine at

, graduating in 1957.

Career and research

Allen established the Regional

Neuropathology Neuropathology is the study of disease of nervous system tissue, usually in the form of either small surgical biopsies or whole-body autopsies. Neuropathologists usually work in a department of anatomic pathology, but work closely with the clinic ...

Service for Northern Ireland in 1972, becoming its first leader. This provided biopsies and autopsies for conditions such as brain tumours, head injuries, brain infections,

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. She has published over 200 papers, spanning over 60 years. Her work is focused chiefly on

, viral infections of the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes th ...

and penetrating head injury. Her research achievements include discovering markers for multiple sclerosis at the cellular and molecular level, research into the role of viruses in

, the observation that measles virus spreads transneuronally and probably transsynaptically within the nervous system and research into the cellular level response to penetrating head injury. Allen was Vice President of the

Royal College of Pathologists The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) is a professional membership organisation. Its main function is the overseeing of postgraduate training, and its Fellowship Examination (FRCPath) is recognised as the standard assessment of fitness to pr ...

from 1993 to 1996, and in 1997 was appointed the first Director for

Research and Development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

for Health and Personal Social Services in Northern Ireland. In this role, she was responsible for developing the research strategy “Research for Health and Wellbeing”, published in 1999. She held this role until 2002. She has also served on the Medical Research Council and on the Joint Medical Advisory Committee of the

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...

Awards and honours

Allen was elected to the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

in 1993 and elected as one of the founding Fellows of

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...

in 1998. She was granted an honorary doctorate in Medical Sciences from her alma mater

in 2003 before being granted both a CBE in 1993 followed by a DBE in 2001, both for Medical Research.

honoured Allen in 2008 with a portrait which hangs in the university's Great Hall - at the time only the third female academic from Queen's to be recognised in this way.

Personal life

Allen was an elder in the McCracken Memorial

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in Belfast. She was also a member of

Christians in Science Christians in Science (CiS) is a British organisation of scientists, philosophers, theologians, ministers, teachers, and science students, predominantly evangelical Christians, concerned with the dialogue between Christianity and science. The organ ...

, the

Society of Ordained Scientists The Society of Ordained Scientists (SOSc) is an international religious order of priest-scientists within the Anglican Communion. The organisation was founded at the University of Oxford by biologist-theologian Arthur Peacocke following the establi ...

and the Thomas Merton Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Ingrid 1932 births 2020 deaths Members of the Royal Irish Academy Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) British pathologists British women neuroscientists Neuroscientists from Northern Ireland Neurologists from Northern Ireland Scientists from Belfast