Provisional Agenda
(Subject to change: The conference may finish slightly earlier or later than the advertised time)
Event type: Virtual/in-person hybrid
Presentation language: English
Venue: The Jarvis Doctorow Hall, St Edmund Hall, Queen’s Lane, Oxford, UK
Time Zone: All times mentioned refer to British Standard (BST) – London/GMT +01:00.
Password and links: Registered conference delegates will be sent joining information and conference access links a few days before the conference.
World Time Converter: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com
NB: Due to the hybrid nature of the agenda and the wide geographical locations of our speakers, it may not always be possible to group related presentations together.
Day 1, 22nd August
1330: Registration and welcome coffee
1415: Housekeeping
1420: Welcome and introductory remarks by Professor Nick Casewell/Dr Ronald Jenner
Session 1: Snakebite therapeutics and antivenoms-I – Chair Professor Nick Casewell
1430: Dr Matthew Lewin
Ophirex, Inc, Corte Madera, California, USA
Update on the BRAVO Clinical Study: A double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled Phase II trial of oral varespladib with standard of care for the treatment of snakebite envenoming
1500: Professor Juan Calvete
Evolutionary and Translational Venomics Laboratory, Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV-CSIC), Valencia, Spain
Conventional antivenoms at a dead end? A view from an antivenomics perspective
1520: Dr Anne Ljungars
Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Discovery of broadly neutralizing recombinant antibodies and nanobodies for treatment of snakebite envenoming
1540: Dr Jeroen Kool
Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
High throughput toxin fishing with human monoclonal antibodies from venom-immunised transgenic mice
1600: Refreshments, networking and posters
1630: Dr Tarek Mohamed Abd El-Aziz
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt
Next-generation biotechnological therapy for developing an affordable therapy for in vitro and in vivo modulation of αC-Conotoxin PrXA
1650: Dr Constantinos Kurt Wibmer (V)
Wits Health Consortium, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Sangringham, Johannesburg, South Africa, South Africa
Isolation and characterisation of cross-reactive equine monoclonal antibodies able to bind long and short chain three finger neurotoxins
1710: Professor José María Gutiérrez (V)
Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
Neutralization by a polyspecific antivenom of the coagulopathy induced by the venom of Bothrops asper: Assessment by standard coagulation tests and rotational thromboelastometry in a murine model
Session 2: Microbial and plant toxins-I – Chair Professor Nick Casewell
1730: Dr Marc-André Cormier
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK
Investigating toxin production and the new “mixoplankton” paradigm in marine ecosystems using hydrogen isotope ratios of geochemical biomarkers
1750: Calvete lifetime achievement award presentation
1810: Close of Day 1
Day 2, 23rd August
Session 3: Snakebite therapeutics and antivenoms-II – Chair Professor Juan Calvete
0900: Dr Charlotte Dawson
Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
Pre-clinical evaluation of small molecule therapeutics for use against North American Crotalid envenoming
0920: Miss Selma Blom Belfakir
Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Development of a multiplex lateral flow assay for the rapid diagnosis of snakebite envenomation
0940: Dr Melisa Benard-Valle
Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
In vivo neutralization of coral snake venoms with an oligoclonal nanobody mixture
1000: Miss Natalie Morris
The University of Bristol, The EPSRC Synthetic Biology Centre for Doctoral Training, Bristol, UK
A computational framework for the pharmacodynamic optimisation of snakebite antivenoms
Session 4: Snake venom profiling – Chair Professor Juan Calvete
1020: Dr Khin Than Yee (V)
Department of Medical Research, Dagon, Yangon, Myanmar
Proteomic studies on Myanmar Russell’s viper venom
1040: Dr José R Almeida
School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Comparative analysis of biochemical and functional variations in the venoms of Russell’s vipers from captive and wild populations
1100: Refreshments, networking and posters
Session 5: Pathology of snake and arachnid venoms – Chair Professor Andreas Laustsen
1130: Dr Naira Ayvazian
Orbeli Institute of Physiology of NAS RA, Yerevan, Armenia
The impact of predominant toxins in viper venom to induce hemorrhage
1150: Ms Soofia Khatibi
School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Effects of cobra venoms on human blood coagulation
1210: Dr Cassandra Modahl
Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
Venom-induced local pathogenesis in ex vivo human skin and mouse models
1230: Mr Opeyemi Sodiq Adeyemi
School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Impact of puff adder (Bitis arietans) venom in causing skeletal muscle damage
1250: Mr Nicholas John Richards
School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Impact of a tarantula, Poecilotheria regalis venom inducing pain in mice
1310: Lunch and networking
1410: Mr Jarred Williams
School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Impact of scorpion venoms on the modulation of haemostasis and thrombosis
1430: Dr Michel Dugon
Venom Systems Lab, The Ryan Institute, School of Natural Sciences, The University of Galway, Ireland
Time to speak about scorpionism, a “forgotten” tropical disease
Session 6: Diversity and evolution of venoms and toxins – Chair Dr Ronald Jenner
1450: Professor Dietrich Mebs
Institute of Legal Medicine, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
Monsters inside me – Parasites versus poisonous animals
1510: Dr Eivind Undheim
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Bioscience, The University of Oslo, Norway
Exaptation of an evolutionary constraint enables behavioural control over centipede venom composition
1530: Dr Mariia Sachkova
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Cnidarian venom in the era of climate change
1550: Mr Anders Isaksen
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Bioscience, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Ant venom evolution: insights from the genetically hyperdiverse greenhead ant, Rhytidoponera metallica
1610: Refreshments, networking and posters
1630: Mr Marius Maurstad
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Bioscience, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Pangenomic insights into the molecular basis of the venom system in the green lacewing
Session 7: Microbial and plant toxins-II (session 2 cont’d)
1700: Professor Andreas Laustsen
Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Protecting the gut microbiata against gastrointestinal infections using binding proteins targeting toxins and virulence factors
1720: Dr Suzanne Kalb
Clinical Chemistry Branch, Division of Laboratory Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
Detecting and differentiating enzymatically active abrin and ricin toxins with mass spectrometry
1740: Dr John Barr
Clinical Chemistry Branch, Division of Laboratory Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
Comprehensive characterization of anthrax toxins during inhalation infection in non-human primate model
1800: Close of Day 2
1900: Networking dinner (by prior booking or invitation only)
Day 3, 24th August
Session 8: Clinical, epidemiological, and societal impact of snakebite – Chair TBA
0900: Professor Sakthivel Vaiyapuri
School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Snakebite-induced socioeconomic impacts on rural communities in Tamil Nadu, India
0920: Dr Mauro Bodio and Professor Thomas Junghanss
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (SwissTPH), Basel, Switzerland
The Snakebite Assistant app – a comprehensive medical toolkit to help Indian health workers with snakebite cases
0940: Dr Bethany Moos/Dr Mike Turner
Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Developing a package of minimum commodities to support the clinical management of snakebite envenoming in Africa
1000: Dr David Williams
Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Title awaited
1020: Refreshments, networking and posters
1050: Dr Nibedita Ray-Bennett
University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
Snakebite deaths: avoidable deaths perspective
1110: Ms Anika Salim
School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Analysis of snake phobia in a snakebite endemic country, India
1130: Dr Michael Abouyannis
Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
The rising burden of paediatric snakebite in Kilifi County, Kenya
1150: Dr Frank-Leonel Tianyi
Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
Snakebite prevalence and risk factors in a nomadic population in Kenya: a community-based survey
1210: Dr Scott Weinstein (V)
Women’s and Children’s Hospital Adelaide, Department of Toxinology, North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Work in progress, or progressed work? Basics and updates about the medical significance of non-front-fanged snakes
1230: Discussion and close of conference
