Dr Rachel Allavena is a board certified veterinary anatomic pathologist with the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and a registered specialist veterinary anatomic pathologist with the Veterinary Surgeon's board of Queensland through the Australian Veterinary Boards Council. She is a senior pathologist in the UQ School of Veterinary Science Veterinary School Diagnostic Service, where she manages the clinical and anatomic pathology divisions, and works as an ad hoc consultant for Queensland Medical Laboratory Vetnostics. In her professional capacity as a specialist she has overseen cases for Racing Queensland, Queensland Police and RSPCA Queensland.
Dr Allavena has a PhD in Comparative Medicine from Cornell Univesity in New York. Her research interests include developing novel cancer immunotherapics for pet dogs, and investigating the causes of koala morbidity and mortality which are driving the decline of koala populations in SEQLD. She has wide ranging research collaborations specialising in the pathological assessment and study design for animal models in a wide variety of areas including novel therapeutics, drug safety, toxicology, and animal welfare in laboratory animals and domestic species.
Dr Allavena has a major interest in graduate student and pathology trainee mentorship. She currently supervises RHD students and pathology trainees preparing for Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientist membership examinations or ACVP board examination. She teaches into the undergraduate BSc BVSc and BAppSc (Vet tech) courses for pathology, laboratory animal science and toxicology. She is the national secretary for the Australian Society of Veterinary Pathologists and the Pathobiology chapter of ANZCVS. She has served NHMRC panels for post-graduate medical scholarships.
Conference Paper
Jones, Emily, Palmieri, Chiara, Al-alawneh, John, Jackson, Karen, Thompson, Mary and Allavena, Rachel (2018). Canine and feline bladder disease - Pathologic features and a novel qualitative analysis of pathology reports. Australian Veterinary Association Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 13-18 May 2018.
Dissanayake, R. B, Stevenson, M., Allavena, R. and Henning, J. (2017). The value of citizen science data for passive surveillance of wildlife. 3rd International Animal Health Surveillance Conference, Rotorua, New Zealand, 30 April - 4 May 2017. Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Veterinary Association.
Jones, Emily, Palmieri, Chiara, Al-alawneh, John, Jackson, Karen, Thompson, Mary and Allavena, Rachel (2017). Canine and feline bladder disease - Pathologic features and a novel qualitative analysis of pathology reports. American College of Veterinary Pathologists, Vancouver, Canada, 4-8 November 2017.
Gonzalez-Astudillo, Viviana, Allavena, Rachel E., Henning, Joerg, Larkin, R. and McKinnon, A. (2016). The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in SE QLD: using passive surveillance to understand the decline of an iconic species. 4th Oceania Congress for Conservation Biology (OCCB), Brisbane, Australia, 6-8 July 2016. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Society for Conservation Biology.
Gonzalez-Astudillo, V., Allavena, R., Larkin, R., McKinnon, A. and Henning, J. (2016). Can passive surveillance aid in the understanding of decline of an iconic marsupial? The koala in SEQLD. Wildlife Society & Wildlife Disease Association Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, 23-30 November 2016.
Fahrer, A., Carroll, C., Andrew, E., Orange, M. and Allavena, R. (2016). Simple and effective tumour immunotherapy using intratumoural complete Freund's adjuvant. International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Melbourne Australia, 21-26 August 2016. Germany: Wiley.
Henning, Joerg, Taylor, Matt, McKinnon, Allan and Allavena, Rachel (2015). Investigating koala declines with online tools. International Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, Merida, Mexico, 3-7 November 2015. International Symposia on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics.
Gonzalez-Astudillo, V., Schaffer-White, A., Allavena, R. and Palmieri, C. (2014). Serosal myxosarcoma in two koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus): case series. ACVP 2014: American College of Veterinary Pathologists 65th Annual Meeting in conjunction with American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) 49th Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, United States, 8-12 November 2014.
Awawdeh, L., Turni, C., Gibson, J., Cobbold, R., Platell J., Allavena, R. and Henning, J. (2014). Optimised protocol for molecular screening of avian pathogenic E. coli from broiler chickens. 10th Annual Meeting of the Australian Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians(AAVLD), Adelaide, Australia, 27-28 November 2014.
Gonzalez Astudillo, V., Henning, J., Hannon, C., McKinnon, A. and Allavena, R. A. (2014). Retrospective analysis of fracture epidemiology, with pathological analysis of fracture healing processes in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). ACVP 2014: American College of Veterinary Pathologists 65th Annual Meeting in conjunction with American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) 49th Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, USA, 8-12 November, 2014.
Awawdeh, L., Turni, C., Gibson, J., Cobbold, R., Henning, J., Platell, J. and Allavena, R. (2014). An optimised protocol for molecular screening of avian pathogenic E. coli from broiler chickens. QAAFI Animal Science Olympics Brisbane, Australia, Brisbane, Australia, 19 September 2014.
Awawdeh, L., Turni, C., Henning, J., Gibson, J., Allavena, R., Platell J., Cobbold, R., Blackall, P. and Gibson, J. (2014). Studies on avian pathogenic Escherichia coli in commercial broiler chickens in Southeast Queensland. Australian Veterinary Poultry Association Scientific Meeting, Adelaide, Australia, 3-4 October 2013.
Koya, Ameera, Boe-Hansen, Gry, deWet, Sharon, Allavena, Rachel, Turner, Shirley, Cawdell-Smith, Judy, Venus, Bronwyn, Greer, Ristan M. and Lew-Tabor, Ala (2012). Application of a Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis guinea pig infection model for the assessment of strain virulence variation. IVVDC 2012: 6th International Veterinary Vaccines and Diagnostics Conference, Cairns, Australia, 29 July - 1 August 2012.
Journal Article
Jones, Emily, Alawneh, John, Thompson, Mary and Allavena, Rachel (2021). Association between case signalment and disease diagnosis in urinary bladder disease in Australian cats and dogs. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, 104063872110040. doi: 10.1177/10406387211004008
Gonzalez‐Astudillo, Viviana, Palmieri, Chiara, Shaw, Stephanie and Allavena, Rachel (2021). Oculocutaneous albinism in a wild koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) with unusual renal impairment. Veterinary Record Case Reports. doi: 10.1002/vrc2.42
Valenza, Ludovica, Allavena, Rachel, Haworth, Mark, Cochrane, Jonathon and Henning, Joerg (2021). Diagnosis and treatment of snake envenomation in dogs in Queensland, Australia. Veterinary Sciences, 8 (2) 14, 1-8. doi: 10.3390/vetsci8020014
Jones, Emily, Alawneh, John, Thompson, Mary, Palmieri, Chiara, Jackson, Karen and Allavena, Rachel (2020). Predicting diagnosis of Australian canine and feline urinary bladder disease based on histologic features. Veterinary Sciences, 7 (4) 0190, 1-13. doi: 10.3390/vetsci7040190
Dargusch, Matthew Simon, Venezuela, Jeffrey, Dehghan‐Manshadi, Ali, Johnston, Sean, Yang, Nan, Mardon, Karine, Lau, Cora and Allavena, Rachel (2020). In vivo evaluation of bioabsorbable Fe‐35Mn‐1Ag: first reports on in vivo hydrogen gas evolution in Fe‐based implants. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 10 (2) 2000667, 2000667. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202000667
Chen, Chien-Jung, Anderson, Stephen T., Steiger, Natasha, McKinnon, Allan, Henning, Joerg and Allavena, Rachel (2020). Bone biomarkers in koalas: validation of assays and preliminary analyses. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, 32 (6), 104063872095703-863. doi: 10.1177/1040638720957031
Suen, Willy W., Zedler, Steven, Price, Rochelle, Maguire, Tina, Halliday, Catriona, Rosenblatt, Alana J., Allavena, Rachel E., Owen, Helen and Medina-Torres, Carlos E. (2019). Rhinosinusitis in an Australian mare caused by Flavodon flavus, a recently recognized invasive fungal pathogen of the horse. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, 32 (1), 104063871989761-165. doi: 10.1177/1040638719897610
Awawdeh, L., Turni, C., Henning, J., Allavena, R. E., Cobbold, R. N., Mollinger, J. L. and Gibson, J. S. (2019). An optimized protocol for molecular screening of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli from broiler chickens in South East Queensland, Australia. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 28 (4), 1370-1381. doi: 10.3382/japr/pfz078
Gonzalez-Astudillo, V., Henning, J., Valenza, L., Knott, L., McKinnon, A., Larkin, R. and Allavena, R. (2019). A necropsy study of disease and comorbidity trends in morbidity and mortality in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in South-East Queensland, Australia. Scientific Reports, 9 (1) 17494, 17494. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-53970-0
Dissanayake, Ravi Bandara, Stevenson, Mark, Allavena, Rachel and Henning, Joerg (2019). The value of long-term citizen science data for monitoring koala populations. Scientific Reports, 9 (1) 10037, 10037. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-46376-5
Starobova, H., Mueller, A., Allavena, R., Lohman, R. J., Sweet, M. J. and Vetter, I. (2019). Minocycline prevents the development of mechanical allodynia in mouse models of vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13 (JUN) 653, 653. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00653
Danesi, P., Falcaro, C., Dukik, K., Jiang, Y., Rizzoli, A. P., Allavena, R., Simpson, V., Ravagnan, S., Zanardello, C., Capelli, G. and de Hoog, G. S. (2019). Molecular diagnosis of emmonsia-like fungi occurring in wild animals. Mycopathologia, 185 (1), 51-65. doi: 10.1007/s11046-019-00353-8
Gonzalez-Astudillo, Viviana, Knott, Lyn, Valenza, Ludovica, Henning, Joerg and Allavena, Rachel (2019). Parasitism by Ophidascaris robertsi with associated pathology findings in a wild koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). Veterinary Record Case Reports, 7 (2) e000821, e000821. doi: 10.1136/vetreccr-2019-000821
Irac, Sergio Erdal, Oksa, Annika , Jackson, Karen , Herndon, Aaron , Allavena, Rachel and Palmieri, Chiara (2019). Cytokine expression in canine lymphoma, osteosarcoma, mammary gland tumour and melanoma: comparative aspects. Veterinary Sciences, 6 (2) 37, 37. doi: 10.3390/vetsci6020037
Alfaleh, Mohamed, Arora, Neetika, Yeh, Michael, de Bakker, Christopher, Howard, Christopher, Macpherson, Philip, Allavena, Rachel, Chen, Xiaoli, Harkness, Linda, Mahler, Stephen and Jones, Martina (2019). Canine CD117-Specific Antibodies with Diverse Binding Properties Isolated from a Phage Display Library Using Cell-Based Biopanning. Antibodies, 8 (1), 15. doi: 10.3390/antib8010015
Palmieri, Chiara, Hood, Grace, Fonseca-Alves, Carlos Eduardo, Laufer-Amorim, Renée and Allavena, Rachel (2019). An immunohistochemical study of T and B lymphocyte density in prostatic hyperplasia and prostate carcinoma in dogs. Research in Veterinary Science, 122, 189-192. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2018.11.022
Weir, Chris, Oksa, Annika, Millar, Jennifer, Alexander, Miles, Kynoch, Nicola, Walton-Weitz, Zoe, Mackenzie-Wood, Peter, Tam, Felicia, Richards, Hope, Naylor, Richard, Cheng, Katrina, Bennett, Peter, Petrovsky, Nikolai and Allavena, Rachel (2018). The safety of an adjuvanted autologous cancer vaccine platform in canine cancer patients. Veterinary Sciences, 5 (4) 87, 87. doi: 10.3390/vetsci5040087
Mancera, Karen F., Besson, Marie, Lisle, Allan, Allavena, Rachel and Phillips, Clive J. C. (2018). The effects of mining machinery noise of different amplitudes on the behaviour, faecal corticosterone and tissue morphology of wild mice (Mus musculus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 203, 81-91. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2018.02.010
Allavena, Rachel E., Schaffer-White, Andrea B., Long, Hanna and Alawneh, John I. (2017). Technical skills training for veterinary students: A comparison of simulators and video for teaching standardized cardiac dissection. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 44 (4), 620-631. doi: 10.3138/jvme.0516-095R
Schaffer-White, A. B., Harper, D., Mayhew, M., McKinnon, A., Knott, L. and Allavena, R. E. (2017). Pulmonary adiaspiromycosis in critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus krefftii). Australian Veterinary Journal, 95 (11), 431-436. doi: 10.1111/avj.12642
Mancera, Karen F., Lisle, Allan, Allavena, Rachel and Phillips, Clive J. C. (2017). The effects of mining machinery noise of different frequencies on the behaviour, faecal corticosterone and tissue morphology of wild mice (Mus musculus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 197, 81-89. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2017.08.008
McGowan, M., Smith, C., Ferguson, A., Stone, B., Vankan, D. and Allavena, R. (2017). Congenital bilateral anterior nasal atresia in 16 half-sibling Holstein-Friesian calves. Australian Veterinary Journal, 95 (4), 118-122. doi: 10.1111/avj.12567
Gonzalez-Astudillo, Viviana, Allavena, Rachel, McKinnon, Allan, Larkin, Rebecca and Henning, Joerg (2017). Decline causes of koalas in South East Queensland, Australia: a 17-year retrospective study of mortality and morbidity. Scientific Reports, 7 (1) 42587, 42587. doi: 10.1038/srep42587
Upton, Dannielle H., Walters, Kirsty A., Allavena, Rachel E., Jimenez, Mark, Desai, Reena, Handelsman, David J. and Allan, Charles M. (2016). Global or granulosa cell-specific Pten mutations in combination with elevated FSH levels fail to cause ovarian tumours in mice. Hormones and Cancer, 7 (5-6), 316-326. doi: 10.1007/s12672-016-0272-3
Allavena, Rachel E., West, Heather, Gale, Joanna and Debrue, Marie (2016). Pathological and clinical analysis of vascular catheterization models in rats, with exploration of interventions to improve clinical tolerance. Toxicologic Pathology, 44 (8), 1095-1104. doi: 10.1177/0192623316666197
Henning, Joerg, Hannon, Christabel, McKinnon, Allan, Larkin, Rebecca and Allavena, Rachel (2015). The causes and prognoses of different types of fractures in wild koalas submitted to wildlife hospitals. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 122 (3), 371-378. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2015.10.015
Underwood, C., Collins, S. N., Mills, P. C., Van Eps, A. W., Allavena, R. E., Medina Torres, C. E. and Pollitt, C. C. (2015). Regional intravenous limb perfusion compared to systemic intravenous administration for marimastat delivery to equine lamellar tissue. Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 38 (4), 392-399. doi: 10.1111/jvp.12198
Astudillo, V. Gonzalez, Schaffer-White, A., Allavena, R. and Palmieri, C. (2015). Multiple intra-abdominal serosal myxosarcomas in two koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Journal of Comparative Pathology, 152 (2-3), 283-286. doi: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2015.01.004
Underwood, Claire, Collins, Simon N., van Eps, Andrew W., Mills, Paul C., Allavena, Rachel E., Bailey, Simon R., Medina Torres, Carlos E., Meizler, Alon and Pollitt, Christopher C. (2015). Intraosseous infusion of the distal phalanx compared to systemic intravenous infusion for marimastat delivery to equine lamellar tissue. Veterinary Journal, 205 (3), 357-363. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2015.05.010
Underwood, Claire, Collins, Simon N., van Eps, Andrew W., Allavena, Rachel E., Medina-Torres, Carlos E. and Pollitt, Christopher C. (2014). Ultrafiltration of equine digital lamellar tissue. The Veterinary Journal, 202 (2), 314-322. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.05.007
Baron, H. R., Allavena, R., Melville, L. M. and Doneley, R. J. T. (2014). Gastric adenocarcinoma in a diamond python (Morelia spilota spilota). Australian Veterinary Journal, 92 (10), 405-409. doi: 10.1111/avj.12233
Medina-Torres, C. E., Pollitt, C. C., Underwood, C., Castro-Olivera, E. M., Collins, S. N., Allavena, R. E., Richardson, D. W. and van Eps, A. W. (2014). Equine lamellar energy metabolism studied using tissue microdialysis. Veterinary Journal, 201 (3), 275-282. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.05.030
Hardy, Margaret C., Cochrane, Jonathon and Allavena, Rachel E. (2014). Venomous and Poisonous Australian Animals of Veterinary Importance: A Rich Source of Novel Therapeutics. Biomed Research International, 2014 (Article ID 671041) 671041, 1-12. doi: 10.1155/2014/671041
McCaskill, Jana, Singhania, Richa, Burgess, Melinda, Allavena, Rachel, Wu, Sherry, Blumenthal, Antje and McMillan, Nigel A. J. (2013). Efficient biodistribution and gene silencing in the lung epithelium via intravenous liposomal delivery of siRNA. Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acid, 2 (1) e96, e96. doi: 10.1038/mtna.2013.22
Sakamoto, Kaori, Kim, Mi Jeong, Rhoades, Elizabeth R., Allavena, Rachel E., Ehrt, Sabine, Wainwright, Helen C., Russell, David G. and Rohde Kyle H. (2013). Mycobacterial trehalose dimycolate reprograms macrophage global gene expression and activates matrix metalloproteinases.. Infection and Immunity, 81 (3), 764-776. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00906-12
Allavena, Rachel E., Phillips, Keli and Andrews, Marcus H. (2012). Ectopic brain tissue in the retina of a beagle dog: Case report and review of the literature. Veterinary Ophthalmology, 15 (3), 183-187. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-5224.2011.00933.x
Shoieb, Ahmed, Allavena, Rachel, Swallow, Jeremy and Debrue, Marie (2012). Peritoneal sarcomatosis associated with telemetry implants in Sprague Dawley CD rats: A review of eight cases. Toxicologic Pathology, 40 (1), 113-121. doi: 10.1177/0192623311425063
Malek, Sarah, Murphy, Kimberly A., NyKamp, Stephanie G. and Allavena, Rachel (2011). Metastatic transitional cell carcinoma in the proximal humerus of a dog. Canadian Veterinary Journal, 52 (9), 1013-1017.
Allavena, Rachel E., Desai, Bhavika, Goodwin, David, Khodai, Tansi and Bright, Helen (2011). Pathologic and virologic characterization of neuroinvasion by HSV-2 in a mouse encephalitis model. Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, 70 (8), 724-734. doi: 10.1097/NEN.0b013e3182275264
Sakamoto, Kaori, Geisel, Rachel E., Kim, Mi-Jeong, Wyatt, Bryce T., Sellers, Llewelyn B., Smiley, Stephen T., Cooper, Andrea M., Russell, David G. and Rhoades, Elizabeth R. (2010). Fibrinogen regulates the cytotoxicity of mycobacterial trehalose dimycolate, but is not required for cell recruitment, cytokine response, or control of mycobacterial infection. Infection and Immunity, 78 (3), 1104-1011. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00451-09
Allavena, R., Noy, S., Andrews, M. and Pullen, N. (2010). CNS elevation of vascular and not mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecules in patients with multiple sclerosis. American Journal of Pathology, 176 (2), 556-562. doi: 10.2353/ajpath.2010.090437
Diaz, Jose V., Duque, Carolina and Geisel, Rachel (2007). Neuroaxonal dystrophy in dogs: Case report in 2 litters of Papillon puppies. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 21 (3), 531-534. doi: 10.1892/0891-6640(2007)21[531:NDIDCR]2.0.CO;2
Rhoades, Elizabeth R., Geisel, Rachel E., Butcher, Barbara A., McDonough, Sean P. and Russell, David G. (2005). Cell wall lipids from Mycobacterium bovis BCG are inflammatory when inoculated within a gel matrix: Characterization of a new model of the granulomatous response to mycobacterial components. Tuberculosis, 85 (3), 159-176. doi: 10.1016/j.tube.2004.10.001
Geisel, Rachel E., Sakamoto, Kaori, Russell, David G. and Rhoades, Elizabeth R. (2005). In vivo activity of released cell wall lipids of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin is due principally to trehalose mycolates. Journal of Immunology, 174 (8), 5007-5015.
Hueffer, Karsten, Parker, John S. L., Weichert, Wendy S., Geisel, Rachel E., Sgro, Jean-Yves and Parrish, Colin R. (2003). The natural host range shift and subsequent evolution of canine parvovirus resulted from a virus-specific binding to canine transferrin receptor. Journal of Virology, 77 (3), 1718-1726. doi: 10.1128/JVI.77.3.1718-1726.2003