Allison Edgar

Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
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/
2026 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
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.
Phillip L. Davidson, Haobing Guo, Jane S. Swart, Abdull J. Massri, Allison Edgar, Lingyu Wang, Alejandro Berrio, Hannah R. Devens, Demian Koop, Paula Cisternas, He Zhang, Yaolei Zhang, Maria Byrne, Guangyi Fan, Gregory A. Wray. 2022. "Recent reconfiguration of an ancient developmental gene regulatory network in Heliocidaris sea urchins." Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol. 6, no. 12, pp. 1907-1920.
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.