糖心破解版

Seminar Abstract: Snakebite envenoming results in >100,000 deaths per year, with an additional ~400,000 victims left with permanent disabilities, with the only approved treatment being antivenom. Antivenom production requires preclinical testing to assess efficacy and safety as an essential part of the manufacturing and regulatory process. The only currently validated preclinical snakebite model is a severe-rated, low-throughput, resource-intensive rodent model. A PubMed search identified 71 publications (2019-2024) using the rodent preclinical model, utilising an estimated 10,379 mice (ranging from 4 to 2,860 per publication). Galleria mellonella (greater wax moth) larval models have gained momentum as a replacement for vertebrate models in the last decade and can provide a lower cost high-throughput in vivo model. The aim for the Galleria Envenoming Model, is to validate Galleria as an alternative in vivo model which is non-vertebrate, resource-light and high-throughput for identification of toxin associated pathology, venom lethality testing (LD50), and therapeutic testing (antivenoms and drugs – ED50). Once validated this model will be used to replace mice in key points of the antivenom manufacturing process.

Biosketch: Dr Rachel Clare is a Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry at Edge Hill University, with expertise in high-throughput drug discovery and the development of therapeutics for neglected and toxin-mediated diseases. Rachel completed her MBiolSci in Biology at the University of Sheffield before working as a protein scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where she contributed to cancer-focused research. She subsequently joined the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the anti-Wolbachia consortium, developing drug-screening approaches for filarial diseases. Her PhD focused on high-throughput anti-filarial drug discovery and included a secondment at AstraZeneca’s Global High Throughput Screening Centre.

She later joined LSTM’s Centre for Snakebite Research and Intervention, where her work focused on identifying and developing small-molecule therapeutics capable of neutralising medically important snake venoms. Her current research at Edge Hill extends this drug-discovery approach to venoms from snakes and other venomous species, including scorpions and jellyfish. She is also developing Galleria mellonella larvae as an alternative in vivo model for assessing venom toxicity and therapeutic efficacy, supported by an NC3Rs Project Grant.

Her research combines biochemistry, pharmacology and translational drug discovery, with the overall aim of developing accessible new treatments for envenoming and other neglected global health conditions.