Professor’s lab is a hub for curiosity

Curiosity begets curiosity.

When Dr. Kylie Allen’s nominator first reached out to her about research, Dr. Allen was curious why he had chosen her lab, of all the labs at Virginia Tech. Her nominator, a first-year student, explained how he’d become very curious about Dr. Allen’s area of research after learning the bare bones of the topic in a class. Dr. Allen said that was all one needed to join her lab: curiosity.

That same curiosity has driven Dr. Allen across decades and state lines, through myriad universities and labs. After earning her bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in Washington, Dr. Allen crossed the country to complete her postdoctoral research here at Virginia Tech. She later returned to Washington for a few years, but found herself drawn to Virginia Tech, due to its collaborative and supportive academic environment coupled with its great research facilities and resources. In the fall of 2018, Dr. Allen returned to Blacksburg to become an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry.

Within the department, Dr. Allen’s lab has become a curiosity hub: a place in which students, undergraduate and graduate alike, can grow as academics and as researchers. No question is too simple to ask, no problem too complicated to solve. Within her lab, Dr. Allen fosters an environment of exploration. She explains to her students that curiosity is a muscle that you can build over time, if you train it. “The mentality she’s instilled in all of us comes to play in our everyday lives,” said her nominator. “And that’s why I think she is the embodiment of curiosity. True and genuine curiosity begets more curiosity. It not only creates an innate sense of wanting to know more for yourself, but it also paves the way for those around you.”

Her nominator said that under Dr. Allen’s leadership, “every single member of the lab feels pushed to their limits.” But Dr. Allen’s influence is not limited to her lab. She is also involved with Virginia Tech’s 1stGen Allies, the Graduate Committee, and the Pathways program through the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity. Dr. Allen’s curiosity and leadership help improve not only the lives of her own students, but of students and faculty across the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg.

“Her core value and the way she has taught us to think have left us vulnerable to unfamiliar experiences,” said her nominator. “On this path lies the unknown. Discoveries and surprises await us on this same journey.” What lies ahead for Dr. Allen is unknown. Her future discoveries and research will only be revealed with time. But with the drive of her curiosity, and her constant inquiries of the world, we have no doubt that her future holds only success.