My venom research
From 2015–2023 I researched animal venoms and antivenom treatment options to decrease the human-snake conflict. I continue some of this work via my students and may do so into the future, pending grant application outcomes.
My venom work is important because it facilitates regulatory approvals of new snakebite treatment options in clinical trials. Research I publish also streamlines future follow-up in vivo studies (which are expensive and time-consuming). I also hope my work helps inform clinicians for better designs of snakebite management strategies to improve patient outcomes.
My venom and antivenom work is particularly important to fill knowledge gaps for antivenoms the vast majority have not undergone clinical trials but are nonetheless currently being used to treat snakebite. Another benefit to society that my research provides is advancing medical science by developing new, innovative methods with which to study snake venoms and antivenoms, without the use of animal models. This attribute enables versatility and flexibility that has historically been impossible and has significant biomedical implications.
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I have also joined forces with Save the Snakes as a member of the group's Advisory Committee, providing input and advice to the organisation.
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Research Impact
Six of my papers used as supporting evidence in the successful application to the US FDA to progress the drug to phase II human clinical trials (pers. comm., Dr Lewin, Ophirex). We (Jackson et al 2016) revealed the world’s first example of ontogenetic venom change in an elapid (Family Elapidae) snake species, subsequently garnering 65 citations, illustrating its significant advancement of this field.
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June 2021
I'm honoured to have this role with such a fine, active, and successful snake conservation organisation. Looking forward to the collaborative work we will do.
In the media
The January 2021 issue of Australian Geographic Magazine featured a story on venoms, which included some of my research and images of me and my husband, Chris Hay, extracting venom from #SquishyTheTaipan, a 22-yr-old Coastal Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus).
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Why is my venom research
exciting and important?
My work is exciting because it involves a topic that often elicits a fear response in people…a topic that most people have little understanding of: venomous snakes and their venom. My fingers have stood dangerously close to the dripping fangs of dozens upon dozens of deadly venomous snakes. It's a risk I do not recommend and one that I avoid whenever possible, but I nonetheless undertake for the purpose of acquiring snake venoms. I take this risk so that I can progress our understanding of venom activity (e.g. on blood and nerves) and antivenom efficacy, hopefully helping to ameliorate the burden of snakebite upon society. Another outcome of my work is progressing the utility of venoms. By that, I mean the innovative use of venoms as diagnostics (e.g. diagnosing Lupus),  tools (e.g. characterising neuron receptors; scorpion venom toxin to colour-mark cancerous brain tissue during brain surgery), and frameworks for the design and development of therapeutic drugs (e.g. Exendin drug from Gila Monster lizard venom to treat diabetes).  I would be remiss if I did not admit: my love for snakes indeed helps motivate my venom work.
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About the snakebite issue aspect of my research…
Snakebite is a globally neglected disease that disrupts the health and economies of many tropical, poor, and rural regions, yet available antivenoms are plagued with numerous efficacy (e.g. limited species coverage) and logistical (e.g. refrigeration requirement) issues. Thus, there is a critical, unmet need for affordable, field-treatment options that are stable without refrigeration. By testing the effectiveness of antivenoms to neutralise various venom functions, I can identify antivenom coverage deficiencies and guide our efforts to improve current antivenoms and develop next-generation envenomation treatments which are affordable and temperature-stable.
I work as a post-doctoral research fellow and lab manager at The Venom Evolution Lab at The University of Queensland. Part of my research here with Dr Bryan Fry and other colleagues involves testing the effect that snake venoms from numerous species have on our blood and neurons. While snake venoms can affect many different systems in the body, the blood and nerve systems are particularly critical for survival so are thus of great importance. By testing the effect and determining the exact molecular targets of specific snake venoms, we can help clinicians produce evidence-based envenomation management plans, inform antivenom production about coverage gaps, and even progress therapeutic drug design and development. For example, while a toxin in eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis) venom called Factor Va potently produces blood clots and disturbs haemostasis (the ability to clot when injured), a derivative of this toxin is currently being patented as a much more effective drug than currently available that doctors can use on patients experiencing blood-loss from trauma.
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Furthermore, during my research on snake venom activity, my colleagues and I developed a innovative method to measure neurological venom activity, without using any animals. Instead of animal tissue like rat muscle or frog eggs, we use microscopic synthetic compounds attached to mini biosensors. These synthetic compounds can be designed to mimic the binding sites of human neurons, so our data are more accurate (not relying on rat/frog models to represent humans, or vice versa), and what used to take 5-7 days now takes only two hours.
This branch of my research is important because neurological diseases affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide and costs Australia over $30.5 billion each year. By streamlining both biomedical research and the pursuit of new therapeutic drugs, my work aims to help treat neurological diseases in a very targeted, side-effect-free way.
Ultimately, my exciting research is important because it is helping to reduce the global envenomation burden and progress the utility of venoms as diagnostics, lab tools, and frameworks for therapeutic drugs.
Below are more images of my venom work since April 2016.
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How it started
As an 11-year-old, my love for and obsession with reptiles was well and truly sealed. I had cared for multiple lizards, frogs, and a snake (no photo exists, but it was a massive Red-tailed Boa), and by 11 years old I was cashed up (in my little mind) from my meager savings, enough to buy a breeding pair of Veiled Chameleons. These are progeny of my fecund pair. Delightful little delicate bodies, whom I doted over everyday after school.