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Professor Allison Pettit
Professor

Allison Pettit

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Overview

Background

Professor Pettit leads the Bones and Immunology Research Group at Mater Research Institute-UQ and is Director of Biomedical Research for Mater Research. Professor Pettit has led multidisciplinary research discovering intersecting biological mechanisms across the fields of immunology, rheumatology, cancer biology, haematology and bone biology. Professor Pettit is currently a UQ Amplify recipient associated with an ARC Future Fellowship, 2017-2020 and CIA on an NHMRC Ideas Grant, 2022-25. Major contributions led by Professor Pettit include the paradigm shifting discovery of a novel population of resident macrophages, osteal macrophages (osteomacs), and their role in promoting bone formation and bone regeneration after injury. Her team have published over 17 manuscripts based on this original discovery (with over 1700 citations) including translation of this basic research discovery toward eluciating novel disease mechanism from cancer bone metastasis to osteoporosis. This also led to the novel discovery of bone marrow resident macrophage contributions to supporting blood stem cells niches and the key role that these cells play in protecting this vital niche from cancer therapies. Bone marrow and specifically haematopoietic stem cell damage is one of the most serious and life-threatening side effects of cancer therapies. Here discoveries are cited in over 117 patent documents and she is currently collaborating with a major pharmaceutical partner.

Professor Pettit's leadership and achievements have been recognised through multiple awards including the 2019 UQ Faculty of Medicine Leader of the Year (Academic), Women in Technology 2018 Life Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award and becoming a Fellow of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research. Professor Pettit has been invited to give numerous presentations at national and international conferences including Seoul Symposium on Bone Health, Asia-Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology Congress and a prestigious American Society of Bone and Mineral Research Meet-the-Professor session. Professor Pettit is and Associate Editor for the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, is an past Council member for the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society, and chairs or serves on numerous committees including the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. PhD candidates under Professor Pettit's supervision have all been supported by scholarships (including 2 x NHMRC), received numerous local and national awards (e.g. Dr Alexander, ASMR QLD Premier Postgraduate Award, 2011 and Dr Lena Batoon won the UQ Faculty of Medicine Graduate of the Year Award, 2021), all had high quality first author publications at completion and 2 received UQ Dean’s Commendations.

Availability

Professor Allison Pettit is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), Griffith University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Research impacts

  • Discovery that the transcription factor RelB is a critical molecular mediator of dendritic cell antigen presentation and extended this to show that RelB expressing dendritic cells have critical roles in the initiation and perpetuation of joint inflammation in inflammatory arthritis. These discoveries were used by my principal HDR supervisor (Professor Ranjeny Thomas; https://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/396) as the knowledge platform to develop the first vaccine therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Demonstration that RANKL is the essential and rate limiting cytokine required for osteoclast formation and focal bone erosion in inflammatory arthritis. This research output influenced pharmaceutical industry development of the blockbuster drug Denosumab.
  • Leadership of the paradigm shifting discovery of a novel population of resident macrophages, osteal macrophages (osteomacs), and their novel role in promoting osteoblastic bone formation and bone regeneration after injury. This has completely changed how the bone and mineral/orthopaedic research field views macrophage contributions to bone health and disease and has influence parallel fields including tissue regeneration and biomaterials.
  • Discovery that macrophages regulate haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche homeostasis. The landmark paper on which I am co-first author is a Web of Science highly cited paper (top 1% or research outputs) that has been cited by papers spanning 46 research fields. We have since extended this discovery to demonstrate that resident macrophage resilience to lethal radiation is essential for bone marrow recovery and successful HSC engraftment and haematopoietic reconstitution post-HSC transplantation (senior author manuscript in Blood, 2018).
  • Exposed that resident tissue macropahges are fragmented during tissue single cell suspension generation, leaving behind encapsulated remnants of themselves that have detectable cell membrane proteins, intracellur proteins and reporter molecules and RNAs. This undermindes the accuracy of burgeoning high parameter technologies focussed on single cell analysis (e.g. flow cytometry, single cell RNAseq, CITESeq, etc) as depending on the tissue disaggregation and analysis strategy, macrophages are under-represented relative to their abundance in tissues and/or macrophage-expressed genes are mistakenly attributed to non-macrophage cells and vice versa

Works

Search Professor Allison Pettit’s works on UQ eSpace

147 works between 1996 and 2024

1 - 20 of 147 works

2024

Journal Article

Induction of osteoblast apoptosis stimulates macrophage efferocytosis and paradoxical bone formation

Batoon, Lena, Koh, Amy Jean, Millard, Susan Marie, Grewal, Jobanpreet, Choo, Fang Ming, Kannan, Rahasudha, Kinnaird, Aysia, Avey, Megan, Teslya, Tatyana, Pettit, Allison Robyn, McCauley, Laurie K. and Roca, Hernan (2024). Induction of osteoblast apoptosis stimulates macrophage efferocytosis and paradoxical bone formation. Bone Research, 12 (1) 43, 43. doi: 10.1038/s41413-024-00341-9

Induction of osteoblast apoptosis stimulates macrophage efferocytosis and paradoxical bone formation

2024

Journal Article

Relative contributions of osteal macrophages and osteoclasts to postnatal bone development in CSF1R-deficient rats and phenotype rescue following wild-type bone marrow cell transfer

Batoon, Lena, Keshvari, Sahar, Irvine, Katharine M, Ho, Eileen, Caruso, Melanie, Patkar, Omkar L, Sehgal, Anuj, Millard, Susan M, Hume, David A and Pettit, Allison R (2024). Relative contributions of osteal macrophages and osteoclasts to postnatal bone development in CSF1R-deficient rats and phenotype rescue following wild-type bone marrow cell transfer. Journal of Leukocyte Biology, 116 (4), 753-765. doi: 10.1093/jleuko/qiae077

Relative contributions of osteal macrophages and osteoclasts to postnatal bone development in CSF1R-deficient rats and phenotype rescue following wild-type bone marrow cell transfer

2024

Journal Article

Reversible expansion of tissue macrophages in response to macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF1) transforms systemic lipid and carbohydrate metabolism

Keshvari, Sahar, Masson, Jesse J.R., Ferrari-Cestari, Michelle, Bodea, Liviu-Gabriel, Nooru-Mohamed, Fathima, Tse, Brian W.C., Sokolowski, Kamil A., Batoon, Lena, Patkar, Omkar L., Sullivan, Mitchell A., Ebersbach, Hilmar, Stutz, Cian, Parton, Robert G., Summers, Kim M., Pettit, Allison R., Hume, David A. and Irvine, Katharine M. (2024). Reversible expansion of tissue macrophages in response to macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF1) transforms systemic lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 326 (2), E149-E165. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00347.2023

Reversible expansion of tissue macrophages in response to macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF1) transforms systemic lipid and carbohydrate metabolism

2023

Journal Article

Macrophage heterogeneity in the single cell era: facts and artefacts

Hume, David A., Millard, Susan M. and Pettit, Allison R. (2023). Macrophage heterogeneity in the single cell era: facts and artefacts. Blood Journal, 142 (16), 1339-1347. doi: 10.1182/blood.2023020597

Macrophage heterogeneity in the single cell era: facts and artefacts

2023

Conference Publication

1511 Macrophages regulate endothelial progenitors’ quiescence and self-renewal during homeostasis and cutaneous wound healing via paracrine signaling

Sim, S., Kaur, S., Styke, C., Millard, S., Blumenthal, A., Pettit, A. and Khosrotehrani, K. (2023). 1511 Macrophages regulate endothelial progenitors’ quiescence and self-renewal during homeostasis and cutaneous wound healing via paracrine signaling. 1st International Societies for Investigative Dermatology Meeting, Tokyo, Japan, 10 - 13 May 2023. Oxford, United Kingdom: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2023.03.1528

1511 Macrophages regulate endothelial progenitors’ quiescence and self-renewal during homeostasis and cutaneous wound healing via paracrine signaling

2023

Conference Publication

Mechanisms underlying the rescue of postnatal bone development in CSF1R-deficient rats following wild-type bone marrow cell transfer

Batoon, Lena, Keshvari, Sahar, Irvine, Katharine, Caruso, Melanie, Patkar, Omkar, Sehgal, Anuj, Millard, Susan, Hume, David and Pettit, Allison (2023). Mechanisms underlying the rescue of postnatal bone development in CSF1R-deficient rats following wild-type bone marrow cell transfer. 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Austin, TX, United States, 9-12 September 2022. Hoboken, NJ, United States: Wiley-Blackwell.

Mechanisms underlying the rescue of postnatal bone development in CSF1R-deficient rats following wild-type bone marrow cell transfer

2023

Conference Publication

HSC Niche Molecular Deconvolution Toward Improved Understanding of Intrinsic And Extrinsic HSC Regulation

Millard, Susan, Kaur, Simranpreet, Choo, Fang Ming and Pettit, Allison (2023). HSC Niche Molecular Deconvolution Toward Improved Understanding of Intrinsic And Extrinsic HSC Regulation. 52nd Annual Meeting of the International-Society-for-Experimental-Hematology (ISEH), New York, NY United States, 17-20 August 2023. Philadelphia, PA United States: Elsevier.

HSC Niche Molecular Deconvolution Toward Improved Understanding of Intrinsic And Extrinsic HSC Regulation

2023

Conference Publication

HSC Niche Molecular Deconvolution Toward Improved Understanding Of Intrinsic And Extrinsic HSC Regulation

Millard, Susan, Kaur, Simranpreet, Choo, Fang Ming and Pettit, Allison (2023). HSC Niche Molecular Deconvolution Toward Improved Understanding Of Intrinsic And Extrinsic HSC Regulation. 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting of the ISEH – International Society for Experimental Hematology, New York, NY United States, 17-20 August 2023. Philadelphia, PA United States: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2023.06.259

HSC Niche Molecular Deconvolution Toward Improved Understanding Of Intrinsic And Extrinsic HSC Regulation

2022

Journal Article

Interleukin‐1 is overexpressed in injured muscles following spinal cord injury and promotes neurogenic heterotopic ossification

Tseng, Hsu‐Wen, Kulina, Irina, Girard, Dorothée, Gueguen, Jules, Vaquette, Cedryck, Salga, Marjorie, Fleming, Whitney, Jose, Beulah, Millard, Susan M., Pettit, Allison R., Schroder, Kate, Thomas, Gethin, Wheeler, Lawrie, Genêt, François, Banzet, Sébastien, Alexander, Kylie A. and Levesque, Jean‐Pierre (2022). Interleukin‐1 is overexpressed in injured muscles following spinal cord injury and promotes neurogenic heterotopic ossification. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 37 (3), 531-546. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.4482

Interleukin‐1 is overexpressed in injured muscles following spinal cord injury and promotes neurogenic heterotopic ossification

2022

Journal Article

Spinal cord injury reprograms muscle fibroadipogenic progenitors to form heterotopic bones within muscles

Tseng, Hsu-Wen, Girard, Dorothée, Alexander, Kylie A., Millard, Susan M., Torossian, Frédéric, Anginot, Adrienne, Fleming, Whitney, Gueguen, Jules, Goriot, Marie-Emmanuelle, Clay, Denis, Jose, Beulah, Nowlan, Bianca, Pettit, Allison R., Salga, Marjorie, Genêt, François, Bousse-Kerdilès, Marie-Caroline Le, Banzet, Sébastien and Lévesque, Jean-Pierre (2022). Spinal cord injury reprograms muscle fibroadipogenic progenitors to form heterotopic bones within muscles. Bone Research, 10 (1) 22, 22. doi: 10.1038/s41413-022-00188-y

Spinal cord injury reprograms muscle fibroadipogenic progenitors to form heterotopic bones within muscles

2022

Journal Article

Therapeutic potential of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF1) in chronic liver disease

Keshvari, Sahar, Genz, Berit, Teakle, Ngari, Caruso, Melanie, Cestari, Michelle F., Patkar, Omkar L., Tse, Brian W. C., Sokolowski, Kamil A., Ebersbach, Hilmar, Jascur, Julia, MacDonald, Kelli P. A., Miller, Gregory, Ramm, Grant A., Pettit, Allison R., Clouston, Andrew D., Powell, Elizabeth E., Hume, David A. and Irvine, Katharine M. (2022). Therapeutic potential of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF1) in chronic liver disease. Disease Models and Mechanisms, 15 (4) dmm049387, 1-15. doi: 10.1242/dmm.049387

Therapeutic potential of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF1) in chronic liver disease

2022

Conference Publication

Appearances Can Be Deceiving: Macrophage Fragmentation Confounds Ex Vivo Haematopoietic Tissue Analysis

Pettit, Allison R., Batoon, Lena, Heng, Ostyn, Hume, David, Irvine, Kate, Kaur, Simranpreet, Levesque, Jean-Pierre, Magor, Graham, Millard, Susan, Noll, Jacqueline, Perkins, Andrew, Raggatt, Liza, Sandrock, Cheyenne, Sehgal, Anuj, Sester, David, Opperman, Khatora Shanae, Summers, Kim, Wu, Andy and Zannettino, Andrew (2022). Appearances Can Be Deceiving: Macrophage Fragmentation Confounds Ex Vivo Haematopoietic Tissue Analysis. 51st Annual Scientific Meeting of the ISEH - International Society for Experimental Hematology, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 1-4 September 2022. Philadelphia, PA United States: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2022.07.018

Appearances Can Be Deceiving: Macrophage Fragmentation Confounds Ex Vivo Haematopoietic Tissue Analysis

2021

Journal Article

Fragmentation of tissue-resident macrophages during isolation confounds analysis of single-cell preparations from mouse hematopoietic tissues

Millard, Susan M., Heng, Ostyn, Opperman, Khatora S., Sehgal, Anuj, Irvine, Katharine M., Kaur, Simranpreet, Sandrock, Cheyenne J., Wu, Andy C., Magor, Graham W., Batoon, Lena, Perkins, Andrew C., Noll, Jacqueline E., Zannettino, Andrew C.W., Sester, David P., Levesque, Jean-Pierre, Hume, David A., Raggatt, Liza J., Summers, Kim M. and Pettit, Allison R. (2021). Fragmentation of tissue-resident macrophages during isolation confounds analysis of single-cell preparations from mouse hematopoietic tissues. Cell Reports, 37 (8) 110058, 110058. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110058

Fragmentation of tissue-resident macrophages during isolation confounds analysis of single-cell preparations from mouse hematopoietic tissues

2021

Journal Article

Osteal macrophages support osteoclast‐mediated resorption and contribute to bone pathology in a postmenopausal osteoporosis mouse model

Batoon, Lena, Millard, Susan M., Raggatt, Liza J., Wu, Andy C., Kaur, Simranpreet, Sun, Lucas W.H., Williams, Kyle, Sandrock, Cheyenne, Ng, Pei Ying, Irvine, Katharine M., Bartnikowski, Michal, Glatt, Vaida, Pavlos, Nathan J. and Pettit, Allison R. (2021). Osteal macrophages support osteoclast‐mediated resorption and contribute to bone pathology in a postmenopausal osteoporosis mouse model. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 36 (11), 2214-2228. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.4413

Osteal macrophages support osteoclast‐mediated resorption and contribute to bone pathology in a postmenopausal osteoporosis mouse model

2021

Journal Article

Macrophages form erythropoietic niches and regulate iron homeostasis to adapt erythropoiesis in response to infections and inflammation

Lévesque, Jean-Pierre, Summers, Kim M., Bisht, Kavita, Millard, Susan M., Winkler, Ingrid G. and Pettit, Allison R. (2021). Macrophages form erythropoietic niches and regulate iron homeostasis to adapt erythropoiesis in response to infections and inflammation. Experimental Hematology, 103, 1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2021.08.011

Macrophages form erythropoietic niches and regulate iron homeostasis to adapt erythropoiesis in response to infections and inflammation

2021

Journal Article

Treatment with a long-acting chimeric CSF1 molecule enhances fracture healing of healthy and osteoporotic bones

Batoon, Lena, Millard, Susan M., Raggatt, Liza J., Sandrock, Cheyenne, Pickering, Edmund, Williams, Kyle, Sun, Lucas W.H., Wu, Andy C., Irvine, Katharine M., Pivonka, Peter, Glatt, Vaida, Wullschleger, Martin E., Hume, David A. and Pettit, Allison R. (2021). Treatment with a long-acting chimeric CSF1 molecule enhances fracture healing of healthy and osteoporotic bones. Biomaterials, 275 120936, 120936. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.120936

Treatment with a long-acting chimeric CSF1 molecule enhances fracture healing of healthy and osteoporotic bones

2021

Journal Article

Role of macrophages and phagocytes in orchestrating normal and pathologic hematopoietic niches

Lévesque, Jean-Pierre, Summers, Kim M., Millard, Susan, Bisht, Kavita, Winkler, Ingrid G. and Pettit, Allison R. (2021). Role of macrophages and phagocytes in orchestrating normal and pathologic hematopoietic niches. Experimental Hematology, 100, 12-31. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2021.07.001

Role of macrophages and phagocytes in orchestrating normal and pathologic hematopoietic niches

2021

Journal Article

CSF1R-dependent macrophages control postnatal somatic growth and organ maturation

Keshvari, Sahar, Caruso, Melanie, Teakle, Ngari, Batoon, Lena, Sehgal, Anuj, Patkar, Omkar L., Ferrari-Cestari, Michelle, Snell, Cameron E., Chen, Chen, Stevenson, Alex, Davis, Felicity M., Bush, Stephen J., Pridans, Clare, Summers, Kim M., Pettit, Allison R., Irvine, Katharine M. and Hume, David A. (2021). CSF1R-dependent macrophages control postnatal somatic growth and organ maturation. PLoS Genetics, 17 (6) e1009605, e1009605. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009605

CSF1R-dependent macrophages control postnatal somatic growth and organ maturation

2021

Journal Article

Healing of sub-critical femoral osteotomies in mice is unaffected by tacrolimus and deletion of recombination activating gene 1

Liu, T-Y, Bartnikowski, M., Wu, A. C., Veitch, M., Sokolowski, K. A., Millard, S. M., Pettit, A. R., Glatt, V., Evans, C. H. and Wells, J. W. (2021). Healing of sub-critical femoral osteotomies in mice is unaffected by tacrolimus and deletion of recombination activating gene 1. European Cells and Materials, 41, 345-354. doi: 10.22203/eCM.v041a22

Healing of sub-critical femoral osteotomies in mice is unaffected by tacrolimus and deletion of recombination activating gene 1

2021

Journal Article

Vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy is driven by canonical NLRP3 activation and IL-1β release

Starobova, Hana, Monteleone, Mercedes, Adolphe, Christelle, Batoon, Lena, Sandrock, Cheyenne J., Tay, Bryan, Deuis, Jennifer R., Smith, Alexandra V., Mueller, Alexander, Nadar, Evelyn Israel, Lawrence, Grace Pamo, Mayor, Amanda, Tolson, Elissa, Levesque, Jean-Pierre, Pettit, Allison R., Wainwright, Brandon J., Schroder, Kate and Vetter, Irina (2021). Vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy is driven by canonical NLRP3 activation and IL-1β release. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 218 (5) e20201452. doi: 10.1084/jem.20201452

Vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy is driven by canonical NLRP3 activation and IL-1β release

Funding

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2028
    Quantum triangulation for deep tissue imaging in NIR-II
    The University of Queensland in America, Inc
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2025
    Increasing hematopoietic stem cell niches post transplantation through enhancing bone marrow macrophage resilience and regeneration mechanisms
    NHMRC IDEAS Grants
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2018 - 2020
    Colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor tyrosine kinase, a new target to treat acute myeloid leukemia
    Cancer Council Queensland
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    Nuclear medicine suite for animals
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2020
    Osteal macrophages as therapeutic targets for fracture repair
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2020
    Characterisation of Bone and Bone Marrow Resident Tissue Macrophages
    ARC Future Fellowships
    Open grant
  • 2016
    ANZBMS Gap Fellowship
    Australian & New Zealand Bone & Mineral Society
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2019
    Recipient bone marrow macrophages contribute to haematopoietic stem cell transplantation success
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2018
    Why macrophages promote heterotopic ossifications following spinal cord injuries
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    Mechanisms and Treatments of Heterotopic Ossification following Spinal Cord Injuries
    United States Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs - Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    IL-22 as a Suppressor of Pancreatic Beta-Cell Stress and a Treatment for Diabetes
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2016
    Macrophages facilitate prostate cancer bone metastasis.
    Cancer Council Queensland
    Open grant
  • 2014
    Influence of macrophage activation phenotype on fracture repair
    Arthritis Foundation of Australia
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    The role of macrophages in facilitating hematopoietic stem cell engraftment and reconstitution
    Cancer Council Queensland
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2016
    Role of bone marrow cells in leukemia progression and resistance to chemotherapy
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2012
    Multi-user in vivo and ex vivo tissue-level mechanical testing instrument for bone and stem cell research
    NHMRC Equipment Grant
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2014
    Novel treatment approaches to prevent joint fusion in ankylosing spondylitis
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2010
    Multi-user small animal digital x-ray imaging machine for bone, cancer, inflammation and stem cell research
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2013
    Preclinical optimisation of intrauterine transplantation of fetal mesenchymal stem cells for osteogenesis imperfecta.
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2013
    Regulation of Bone Dynamics by Osteal Tissue Macrophages (Osteomacs)
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2009 - 2011
    Towards selective targeting of HDACs for anti-inflammatory applications
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2008 - 2012
    NHMRC Career Development Award (Biomedical - Level 1): Osteal macrophages: novel regulators of osteoblast function and the endosteal stem cell niche
    NHMRC Career Development Award
    Open grant
  • 2007 - 2009
    Role of bone-associated macrophages in bone remodelling and bone disease
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2006
    Characterization of the role of T cell subsets in pathologic bone destruction
    Ramaciotti Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2006
    Role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in osteoclastogenesis and bone erosion in rheumatoid arthritis
    Arthritis Foundation of Australia
    Open grant
  • 2005
    Role of Macrophages Residing on the Bone Surface in Bone Remodelling and Repair
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant
  • 2001 - 2005
    NHMRC CJ Martin Fellowship: The role of T cell expression of receptor-activator of NFkB ligand (RANKL) in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis bone erosion
    NHMRC Training (Postdoctoral) Fellowship
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Professor Allison Pettit is:
Available for supervision

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Available projects

  • Deconvoluting Tissue Resident Macrophage Biology

    Project only open to Australian Domestic Applicants at this time with competitive stipend on offer.

    Analysis of single cell preparations from tissues is a mainstay of biological discovery research. Particularly in the current era of costly investment in increasingly high dimensional analysis of single cell samples toward generation of publicly available data sets. The team exposed an unrecognised technical phenomenon that has high potential to substantively compromise single cell data accuracy across a broad range of research fields including immunology and haematology. Specifically, tissue resident macrophages are fragmented during haematopoietic single cell suspension preparation and leave behind encapsulated remnants containing membrane and cytoplasmic molecules attached to other cells they were interacting with in situ. This phenomenon profoundly compromises accurate analysis of the data generated. Using this unique perspective, the project aims to 1) expose how widespread this phenomenon is in a diverse range of tissues across age; 2) develop optimised approaches to eliminate macrophage fragmentation during haematopoietic tissue single cell preparation; and 3) take advantage of this technical phenomenon to achieve a substantive knowledge gain in understanding bone marrow macrophage specialisation.

    The outcome of this research is a broad spectrum increase in the fidelity of biology research that utilises this common approach. This will elevate translatability of research outcomes and ultimately public confidence in the Australian biology research sector. It will create opportunity to collaborate with industry toward improved development of relevant reagents and instrument technology and inform development of digital tools to deconvolute this phenomenon when analysing big data sets.

Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

Contact Professor Allison Pettit directly for media enquiries about:

  • Bone Marrow Transplantation
  • Osteoporosis Fragility Fracture
  • Tissue regeneration

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au