Education

Research Manager (2009), Animal Vaccine Research Manager, Bioniche Life Sciences
PhD (2007), University of Guelph, Food Microbiology
Researcher (2002), PHAC Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses, Guelph ON
MSc (2000), University of Guelph, Food Microbiology

Biography

Dr. Allen has been an Assistant Professor of food microbiology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) since 2010. His graduate training (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) was performed under the supervision of Dr. Mansel Griffiths at the University of Guelph. Prior to joining UBC, Dr. Allen spent time in government and as a Research Manager with Bioniche Life Sciences, Inc. where he was involved in the development of food safety vaccines, including the licensure of the world’s first Escherichia coli O157 vaccine for cattle. In his current appointment at UBC, Dr. Allen directs a research program focusing on understanding and linking genetic traits with phenotypic behaviour of foodborne pathogens, especially those enabling survival to food safety interventions encountered along the food continuum. Using cutting-edge culture and molecular-based strategies to detect and characterize indicator and pathogenic bacteria, he aims to better identify reservoirs and mechanisms by which pathogenic bacteria cause disease through our food supply, with particular attention paid to Listeria monocytogenes and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli. This includes, but is not limited to, exploring pathogen sources that may lead to contaminated fresh vegetables deriving from conventional and organic production systems. In a separate thrust, his laboratory is interested in identifying the prevalence, occurrence, and sources of antimicrobial resistant genes/microorganisms that occur within the food system and are of consequence to human therapeutic treatment.

Dr. Allen is currently seeking a Post-doctoral Research Fellow to conduct Molecular Food Microbiology studies with Listeria monocytogenes. An advertisement in PDF format for this position can be found here.

Teaching (starting Sept. 2010)

• Food 523 – Advances in Food Microbiology (Term 1)
• FNH 313 – Microorganisms in Food Systems (Term 2)
• FNH 425 – Food Science Laboratory III
• LFS 100 – Introduction to Land, Food & Community (Term 1)

Selected Publications (2010 to present)

• Arguedas-Villa C, Kovacevic J, Allen KJ, Rogers SR, Tasara T, (2013). Cold growth phenotypic characterization and genetic comparison of Canadian and Swiss Listeria monocytogenes strains associated with the food supply chain and human listeriosis cases (In preparation; for submission to Food Microbiol Feb 2013).
• Kovacevic J, Arguedas-Villa C, Wozniak A, Tasara T, Allen KJ, (2012). Examination of food chain-derived Listeria monocytogenes of different serotypes reveals considerable diversity among inlA genotypes, mutability, and adaptation to cold temperature. Appl Environ Microbiol. (Accepted Jan 8, 2013)
• Kovacevic J, Sagert J, Wozniak A, Gilmour M and Allen KJ, (2012). Antimicrobial resistance and coselection phenomenon in Listeria spp. from food and food production environments. Food Microbiol. (Accepted Jan 8, 2013)
• Wan ML-Y, Woo C-SJ, Allen KJ, Turner PC, El-Nezami H, (2012). Modulation of porcine β-defensins 1 and 2 upon individual and combined Fusarium toxin exposure in a swine jejunal epithelial cell line. Appl Environ Microbiol. (Accepted, Jan 17, 2013)
• Allen KJ, Laing C, Cancarevic A, Zhang Y, Mesak LR, Xu H, Gannon V, Hoang L, (2012). Comparative genomics and antimicrobial resistance of clinical Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolates originating from British Columbia. (Submitted)
• Allen KJ, Kovacevic J, Cancarevic A, Wood J, Wood J, Xu J, Gill B, Allen JK and Mesak LR, (2012). Microbiological survey of imported produce available at retail across Canada. Int J Food Microbiol. (Accepted, Jan 10, 2013)
• Varon O, Allen KJ, Bennett DC, Mesak LR and Scaman CH, (2012). Purification and characterization of tinamou egg white ovotransferrin as an antimicrobial agent against foodborne pathogenic bacteria. (Submitted)
• Allen KJ and Wang S, (2012). Equipment cleaning. In: Encyclopedia of Meat Science, 2nd Ed., Gill CO (ed). Elsevier Ltd, Oxford, UK. (Submitted).
• Deng X, Allen KJ, Zhang W, (2012). Pathogen identification using high-density microarrays. In: Encylopedia of biotechnology in agriculture and food, Heldman DR, Hoover D, Wheeler MB (eds). Taylor and Francis Group, NY, NY (In press).
• Erdozain MS, Allen KJ, Morley KA, Powell D, (2013). A review of sprouts-related risk communication. Food Control 30: 649-56 (IF=2.7).
• Allen KJ, Mesak LR, Chen XM and Kitts DD, (2012). Antimicrobial activity of salmon extracts derived from traditional First Nations smoke processing. J Food Prot 75:1878-82.
• Kovacevic J, Mesak LR and Allen KJ, (2012). Occurrence and characterization of Listeria spp. in ready-to-eat retail foods from Vancouver, British Columbia. Food Microbiol 30:372-78.
• Allen KJ (2012) Genomics of foodborne bacterial pathogens, Weidmann M and Zhang W (eds), first ed. Springer Science+Business Media, NY, NY, 552 pp, Food Microbiol 28:1415-1416.
• Allen KJ and Griffiths MW, (2012). Impact of hydroxyl- and superoxide anion-based oxidative stress on logarithmic and stationary phase Escherichia coli O157:H7 stress and virulence gene expression. Food Microbiol 29:141-47.
• Allen KJ, (2012). Antimicrobial resistance in vibrios. In: Pathogenic vibrios and food safety, Su YC (ed.). Nova Science Publishers, Inc, Hauppauge, NY (ISBN 978-62100-866-8).
• Allen KJ, Rogan D, Finlay BB, Potter A and Asper D, (2011). Vaccination with type III secreted proteins leads to decreased shedding in calves after experimental inoculation with Escherichia coli O157. Can J Vet Res 75:98-105.
• Fatima M, Ster C, Rempel H, Talbot BG, Allen KJ, Malouin F and Diarra MS, (2011). Effect of co-administration of 3’-5’-cyclic diguanylic acid with Infectious Bursal Disease Virus on serum antibody levels in broilers. J Vet Animal Adv 10:3263-3268.
• Allen KJ, Lepp D and Griffiths MW, (2010). Targeted microarray analysis of stationary phase Escherichia coli O157:H7 subjected to disparate nutrient conditions. J Appl Microbiol 109:2118-2127.

Publications prior to UBC

• Allen KJ, Lepp D and Griffiths, MW (2008). Examination of stress and virulence gene expression in Escherichia coli O157:H7 using targeted microarray analysis. Foodborne Dis Pathog 5:437-447.
• Poppe C, Zeibell K, Martin L and Allen KJ, (2002). Diversity in antimicrobial resistance and other characteristics among Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 isolates. Microb Drug Resist 8(2):107-122.
• Allen KJ and Poppe C, (2002). Occurrence of CMY-2 beta-lactamase mediated resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins in Salmonella isolated from 1994-1999 in food producing animals in Canada. Can J Vet Res 66(3):237-144.
• Allen KJ and Poppe C, (2002). Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of food animal isolates of Salmonella with reduced sensitivity to ciprofloxacin. Microb Drug Resist 8(4):375-383 (IF=2.2).
• Allen KJ and Griffiths M (2001) Effect of environmental and chemotactic stimuli on the activity of the Campylobacter jejuni flaA sigma28 promoter. FEMS Microbiol Letters 205(1):43-48.
• Allen KJ and Griffiths M (2001) Use of luminescent Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 33291 to assess eggshell colonization and penetration in fresh and retail eggs. J Food Prot 64(12):2058-2062.