- Research Associate, The University of Queensland
My passion lies in research that contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary interactions between organism and ecology - in particular, the evolution of the venom and venom systems of reptiles. My research incorporates evolutionary biology and ecology with clinical toxinology. I aim to illuminate the evolutionary processes shaping viper venom and provide insight into the implications this can have for snakebite therapeutics.
I completed my PhD in the Venom Evolution Lab at the University of Queensland where I investigated the functional and molecular evolution of viper (Viperinae) venoms. Following this, I worked at the Australian Venom Research Unit at Melbourne University where my focus was brown snake venoms.
I am presently working a short-term contract as a field research officer for Zoos Victoria in a post-bushfire koala ecology project. The project is taking place in my hometown of Mallacoota, which was severely affected in the 2019/2020 summer bushfires. This personal connection to the nature of the project explains the somewhat unusual departure from my typical line of work.
Experience
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2021–presentResearch officer, Zoos Victoria
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2020–2020Postdoctoral researcher, The University of Melbourne
Education
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2020University of Queensland, Doctor of Philosophy
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2013Liverpool John Moores University, BSc. Hons. Zoology
Publications
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2017Rattling the border wall: Pathophysiological implications of functional and proteomic venom variation between Mexican and US subspecies of the desert rattlesnake Crotalus scutulatus, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part C
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2017Differential procoagulant effects of saw-scaled viper (Serpentes: Viperidae: Echis) snake venoms on human plasma and the narrow taxonomic ranges of antivenom efficacies, Toxicology Letters
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2017Enter the Dragon: The Dynamic and Multifunctional Evolution of Anguimorpha Lizard Venoms, Toxins
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2016Rapid Radiations and the Race to Redundancy: An Investigation of the Evolution of Australian Elapid Snake Venoms., Toxins
Contact Bianca for
- General
- Media request
- Speaking request
- Consulting / Advising
- Research collaboration
- Research supervision
- Location: Mallacoota, Victoria
- X (formerly Twitter): @b_opdenbrouw
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