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Home   Researchers   Our researchers
Prof Allison Pettit

Prof Allison Pettit

allison.pettit@mater.uq.edu.au
+61 7 3163 2555
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    Prof Allison Pettit

    • Group Leader - Bones and Immunology Research

    Prof Allison Pettit

    Professor Allison Pettit is the Director of Biomedical Research and leads the Bones and Immunology Research Group with a team of researchers, Higher Degree Research candidates and an undergraduate research student. Allison has authored more than 80 scientific publications, with a current research focus on understanding how the immune system influences bone health and healing and how to accelerate bone marrow recovery post-bone marrow transplantation or other high risk cancer therapies. Allison has worked in the complementary fields of immunology, rheumatology, haematology, cancer biology and bone biology for over 15 years, and as a lead investigator has received more than $5 million in competitive funding.

    Allison’s research group discovered and continues to characterise osteal macrophages (osteomacs), a specialised tissue resident macrophage population in bone-lining tissues. Her team discovered that osteomacs participate in bone dynamics through promoting anabolic outcomes and, more recently, via supporting bone resorbing osteoclasts. Since her lab’s first landmark publication in this area in 2008, they have published 18 related studies cementing the role of osteomacs in bone biology, pathology and repair. Her team has also shown that osteomacs can be therapeutically targeted to improve bone healing in healthy and osteoporotic bone. Ongoing research in her laboratory is focused on pre-clinical development of novel translatable treatment strategies that enhance or mimic osteomac function, with the ultimate goal to reduce morbidity and costs associated with osteoporosis fragility fracture.

    In collaboration with other Mater researchers, Allison’s team made integral contributions to the discovery that tissue resident macrophages in the bone marrow play a vital role in blood stem cell niches. Her lab continues to uncover the functional and molecular contributions of macrophages to these niches, particularly to their recovery post-bone marrow transplantation.

    Allison frequently performs manuscript reviews for high quality journals, is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and has undertaken grant review service for both the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Australian Research Council, and reviews for international granting bodies. Allison is a past Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society (ANZBMS) Research Subcommittee (2013-15) and past member of ANZBMS Council (2015-2021) and currently sits on the Finance Subcommittee. Allison also sits on a number of other management and professional development committees, and gender equity and diversity groups.

    ‘I undertook a career in medical research because I was fascinated with human biology, physiology and pathology, and thought that research was a way to have impact on improving health outcomes and quality of life.’

    Research Interests

    • Endocrinology - Clinical Sciences
    • Orthopaedics - Clinical Sciences
    • Immunology not elsewhere classified - Immunology
    • Tumour Immunology - Immunology
    • Cancer Cell Biology - Oncology and Carcinogenesis
    • Haematological Tumours - Oncology and Carcinogenesis

    Current research

    • Group Leader - Bones and Immunology Research
    • Program Member - Cancer

    Funding

    • 2022 - National Health and Medical Research Council (Ideas Grant) - $935,616.00
      Funded ProjectIncreasing hematopoietic stem cell niches post transplantation through enhancing bone marrow macrophage resilience and regeneration mechanisms
    • 2018 - National Health and Medical Research Council (Project Grant) - $618,014.80
      Funded ProjectOsteal macrophages as therapeutic targets for fracture repair
    • 2017 - Australian Research Council (Future Fellowship) 
      Funded ProjectCharacterisation of Bone Marrow Resident Tissue Macrophages
    • 2016 - National Health and Medical Research Council (Project Grant) - $50,000.00
      Funded ProjectRecipient bone marrow macrophages contribute to haematopoietic stem cell transplantation success
    • 2016 - Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society (Gap Fellowship) - $50,000.00
      Funded ProjectMolecular profiling of bone marrow and osteal tissue macrophages in homeostasis and injury
    • 2015 - National Health and Medical Research Council (Project Grant) - $608,905.50
      Funded ProjectRecipient bone marrow macrophages contributes to haematopoietic stem cells transplantation success
    • 2015 - National Health and Medical Research Council (Project Grant) - $533,660.00
      Funded ProjectWhy macrophages promote heterotopic ossifications following spinal cord injuries?
    • 2014 - United States Department of Defence (Spinal Cord Injury Research Program - Investigator-Initiated Research Award (SCIRP)) - $977,701.26
      Funded ProjectMechanisms and treatments of heterotopic ossification following spinal cord injuries
    • 2014 - National Health and Medical Research Council (Project Grant) - $822,656.00
      Funded ProjectIL-22 as a Suppressor of Oxidative and ER Stress in ?-Cells and a Treatment for Diabetes
    • 2014 - Cancer Council Queensland (Project Grant) - $200,000.00
      Funded ProjectMacrophages facilitate prostate cancer bone metastasis
    • 2014 - Cancer Council Queensland (Project Grant) - $200,000.00
      Funded ProjectMacrophages facilitate prostate cancer bone metastasis.
    • 2013 - Arthritis Foundation Australia (Project Grant) - $30,000.00
      Funded ProjectInfluence of macrophage activation phenotype on fracture repair
    • 2012 - National Health and Medical Research Council (Project Grant) - $569,737.35
      Funded ProjectDo bone marrow macrophages regulate leukaemia stem cells and their response to treatment?

    Awards

    • The University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine, Leader of the Year (Academic), 2019
    • Fellow of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, 2019
    • Life Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award, Women in Technology, 2018.
    • Outstanding Abstract Award, Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society (ANZBMS), 2015.
    • Outstanding Abstract Award, ANZBMS, 2014.
    • John H. Tyrer Prize in Internal Medicine, UQ, 2001.
    • Dean’s Commendation List for Outstanding PhD Theses, UQ, 2000.
    • Young Investigator Award, Australian Rheumatology Association, 1997.

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