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Contact Information

David Allan

Associate Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology Program
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Associate Professor, Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology
University of Ottawa
Medical Director, Stem Cells
Canadian Blood Services

Research Interests

Ongoing research addresses the optimization of stem cell products used in hematopopietic stem cell transplantation and the translation of cell-based regenerative therapy into clinical practice. This includes analysis of how donor and stem cell product issues impact patients in Canada and research in knowledge synthesis of pre-clinical and clinical studies addressing the use of vascular progenitor cells, mesenchymal stromal cells, and extracellular vesicles in regenerative therapy.  Research in Dr. Allan’s program has been supported by CIHR, NSERC, Canadian Blood Services, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation and the Department of Medicine.

Brief Biography

Dr. Allan is a clinician-researcher with the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at TOH, the University of Ottawa and in the Regenerative Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology Programs at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He is a graduate of Queen's University and completed residency in Internal Medicine and Hematology and the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario. As a post-MD research fellow, he studied the regenerative function of hematopoietic stem cells and he completed a clinical fellowship in blood and marrow transplantation at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal.

Selected Publications

Top Publications

Cell-based Regenerative Therapy


1. Allan DS, Tieu A, Lalu M, Burger D. Mesenchymal stromal cell-derived extracellular vesicles for regenerative therapy and immune modulation: Progress and challenges. Stem Cells Transl Med, 2019 (Aug 14, epub ahead of print)

2. Rizk M*, Aziz J*, Shorr R, Allan DS. Use of umbilical cord blood for novel applications in regenerative therapy and immune modulation: an updated systematic scoping review. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant, 2017; 23:1607-1613. [PMID 28602892]

Hematopoietic Stem Cells & Transplantation

1. Allan D, Kiernan J*, Dibdin N, Bartlett D, Campbell T, Mostert K, Halpenny M, Ganz K, Gragert L, Maiers M, Petrazsko T, Elmoazzen H. Reducing ethnic disparity in access to high quality HLA-matched cord blood units for transplantation: analysis of the Canadian Blood Services’ Cord Blood Bank inventory. Transfusion, 2019; 59: 2382-2388.

2. Greco-Stewart V, Kiernan J*, Killeen D, Haun S, Mercer D, Young K, Liwski R, Allan DS. Unrelated donor choices for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in Canada: an evaluation of factors influencing donor selection. Transfusion, 2018; 58: 718-725. [PMID 29277913].

Diseases, conditions and populations of interest





Research and clinical approaches