Allison Edgar
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
Central King Building (CKB)
About Me
I am an organismal biologist who integrates development, evolution, and ecology to study the life histories of invertebrate animals. I am interested in the strategies that animals use to develop, grow, mature, reproduce, and (sometimes) regenerate. I am particularly interested in how some of the earliest-branching animals’ ability to reproduce and regenerate are influenced by environmental factors, and how their gene expression is regulated to produce these outcomes.
Education
Ph.D. ; Duke University ; Biology ; 2019

B.A. ; Reed College ; Biology ; 2008

Website
https://lifehistorylab.com/
2025 Fall Courses
BIOL 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II

BIOL 342 - DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

BIOL 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RESRCH

BIOL 790D - DOCT DISSERTATION & RESRCH

BIOL 792B - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH

BIOL 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I

BIOL 790B - DOCT DISSERTATION & RESRCH

BIOL 492 - RESEARCH & INDEPENDENT STUDY

BIOL 701C - MASTER'S THESIS

BIOL 790C - DOCTORAL DISSERTN & RESRCH

BIOL 790E - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

BIOL 792C - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH

BIOL 491 - SENIOR PROJECT

BIOL 701B - MASTER'S THESIS

BIOL 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT

Past Courses
BIOL 342: DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY (EMBRYOLOGY)

BIOL 495: HONORS SEMINAR IN BIOLOGY - HONORS

Journal Article
Orianna A. Duh, Magy Hanna, Allison Edgar. 2025. "Surgical Removal of a Complex Sensory Organ in Highly Regenerative Ctenophores." Journal of Visualized Experiments , no. 222 .

Dorothy G. Mitchell, Allison Edgar, Júlia Ramon Mateu, Joseph F. Ryan, Mark Q. Martindale. 2024. "The ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi deploys a rapid injury response dating back to the last common animal ancestor." Communications Biology , vol. 7 , no. 1 .

Alexandra M. Vargas, Melissa B. Debiasse, Lana L. Dykes, Allison Edgar, T. Danielle Hayes, Daniel J. Groso, Leslie S. Babonis, Mark Q. Martindale, Joseph F. Ryan. 2024. "Morphological and dietary changes encoded in the genome of Beroe ovata, a ctenophore-eating ctenophore." NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics , vol. 6 , no. 2 .

Labib Rouhana, Allison Edgar, Fredrik Hugosson, Valeria Dountcheva, Mark Q. Martindale, Joseph F. Ryan. 2023. "Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Is an Ancestral Hallmark of Early Development in Animals." Molecular Biology and Evolution , vol. 40 , no. 6 .

Jennifer Ortiz, Yuriy V. Bobkov, Melissa B. Debiasse, Dorothy G. Mitchell, Allison Edgar, Mark Q. Martindale, Anthony G. Moss, Leslie S. Babonis, Joseph F. Ryan. 2023. "Independent Innexin Radiation Shaped Signaling in Ctenophores." Molecular Biology and Evolution , vol. 40 , no. 2 .

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Other
"Reply to Soto-Angel et al.: Is “larva” a natural kind? Phylogenetic thinking provides clarity"
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2023.

"Studying Ctenophora WBR Using Mnemiopsis leidyi"
January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2022.

"Whole-body regeneration in the lobate ctenophore mnemiopsis leidyi"
Genes, June, 2021.