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Brian Jeffrey Allen is a psychologist working at the Penn State Children’s Hospital and Penn State College of Medicine. He is currently running as a Republican for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to represent the people of Pennsylvania’s 10th congressional district.

Early life and education
Allen was born and raised in Kendallville, Indiana, a small farming town north of Fort Wayne. His parents often struggled to make ends meet, with his father working in a factory and a steel mill and his mother working in a factory and a local bank. Allen worked various jobs throughout his teenage years to save money for college and graduated from East Noble High School in 1998.

In 2002, Allen graduated from Hillsdale College, majoring in psychology and minoring in history, and became the first member of his family to graduate from college. He then attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he completed a doctoral degree in clinical psychology in 2008.

Professional Career
During graduate school, Allen specialized in the treatment of abused and neglected children. He became a prolific researcher, publishing over 50 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, books, and book chapters as of 2020. He successfully obtained multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund his research.

In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, Allen was recruited by Penn State to establish a state-of-the-art child abuse treatment program at the Penn State Children’s Hospital. Development of the program began in 2013 and it is now an internationally recognized leader in the fight against child abuse. Allen continues to direct the program and conduct research on the treatment of abused and neglected children.

Political Campaign
Allen is a political upstart who is on record as describing himself in the mold of John McCain, John Kasich, and former Pennsylvania representative Charlie Dent. He has publicly criticized decisions by President Trump and current U.S. representative of Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional district, Scott Perry. He also appears to be taking steps to build bridges with historically marginalized groups, such as the LGBTQ+, African-American, and Latino communities.