He carried out his doctoral studies at
Yale University in
New Haven, Connecticut, United States, obtaining his
Ph.D. in 1961 under the tutorship of Prof. F.M. Richards. He did post doctoral work with Prof.
Fritz Lipmann at
Rockefeller University and with
Marshall Warren Nirenberg at
NIH. During the 1960s, his research was focused on
protein synthesis, a field in which he made crucial contributions. In the 1970s he was a pioneer in studying the mechanism of hormonal induction of
oocyte maturation. His later research is focused in two ubiquitous protein
kinases, CK1 and CK2, involved in the
phosphorylation of key cellular proteins. He devoted much of his life to organizing activities for the scientific integration in
Latin America especially through organizing series of training courses in
molecular biology techniques, and through the creation of the Latin American Network of Biological Sciences. In recent years, Doctor Allende has been a promoter of science education through his personal commitment in several projects, like the Science Education Inquiry Based program, funded by the University of Chile, and through his participation in the Allende-Connelly Foundation, founded by him and his wife. Though he retired from active science in 2009, he remains a professor at the Faculty of Medicine. He was also Research Vice President of the University of Chile. He published his autobiography in 2010. ==Personal life==