Annette Allen

University of Manchester
Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology
UK

Dr Annette Allen is a research fellow at the University of Manchester in the Division of Neuroscience and Experimenta Psychology.

Annette was awarded a PhD from the University of Manchester in 2011 for research into the non-classical photoreceptive mechanisms of the mouse retina. She continued my research as a post-doctoral researcher with Prof Robert Lucas, describing the role of melanopsin photoreceptors in visual processing and subconscious responses to light in the mouse visual system. From this work arose the development of a new type of visual display, which can control the activity of melanopsin alongside conventional photoreceptors. In 2017, Annette began a Dean’s Prize research fellowship at the University of Manchester, where she has applied this new technology reveal how melanopsin’s role in vision goes beyond its established function as a ‘circadian photoreceptor’, making a unique contribution to human perception and pattern vision.