Our most recent event
hot topics in venom
On Thursday, April 27th at 7:00pm Central,
thank you for having joined FWLSC on ZOOM for our spring event!
Guest Lecturers:
"Myths and Misconceptions in the Management of Snakebites"
Spencer Greene, MD, MS, FACEP, FACMT, FAACT, FAAEM
Director of Toxicology
Department of Emergency Medicine
HCA Houston Healthcare - Kingwood
Clinical Professor
University of Houston College of Medicine
Bayou City Medical Toxicology and Emergency Medicine Consultants, PLLC
"Evolution and Diversification of Snake Venom Toxins and Venom Glands"
(Presented in 2021 for the Universidade Federal de São Paulo Department of Pharmacology)
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSkgitjnv8I
Stephen P. Mackessy, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology in Biological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado
About the Speakers:
Spencer Greene, MD, MS, FACEP, FACMT, FAACT, FAAEM is a board-certified emergency physician, medical toxicologist, and addiction medicine specialist. He is a Clinical Professor at the University of Houston College of Medicine and serves as the Director of Toxicology at HCA Houston Healthcare-Kingwood, where he oversees one of the busiest snakebite services in the U.S. His research interests include envenomations, salicylate poisoning, antimuscarinic toxicity, anticonvulsant overdoses, and alcohol withdrawal. He has authored more than 50 book chapters and scholarly articles and is the recipient of multiple teaching and clinical awards.
Dr. Greene has directed the Houston Venom Conference since 2013. He serves as the Co-Chair of the newly established American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) Toxinology section and directed the ACMT Natural Toxins Academy.
Dr. Greene graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BA in psychology and biology. He earned an MS in immunology from C.W. Post, Long Island University. He graduated magna cum laude with an MD from Albany Medical College. He completed his emergency medicine residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and his medical toxicology fellowship at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center.
Stephen P. Mackessy is a Professor of Biology in Biological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado. His lab investigates fundamental questions in biology using venomous snakes and their venoms as a basic platform, and he has published over 200 scientific papers, book chapters and natural history notes, several books, and special editions of several journals. He utilizes an integrative approach to study diverse phenomena ranging from the molecular basis of behaviors to structure/function relationships in proteins to genome-level regulation of phenotypic expression. Studies of the evolution and diversification of toxins, both at the molecular level and at a population level, have led to the investigation of purified toxins as potential therapeutic leads. Another area of research considers the structure and function of snake venom glands, particularly regulatory mechanisms that stabilize toxins biologically and biophysically. Research has included many graduate (30) and undergraduate (60) students, as well as colleagues from nine countries, the University of Texas and other US universities. His research program has been supported by many national, state and local funding agencies. Dr. Mackessy also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in biomedicine and vertebrate biology at UNC, where he has received awards in recognition of outstanding research and teaching. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in Biology (Eco-Evo) at UC Santa Barbara, Department of Biology, and his Ph.D. (minor: Biochemistry) was received from Washington State University (with Dr. K.V. Kardong). He was a postdoctoral Research Associate at Colorado State University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (with Anthony T. Tu) before joining Biological Sciences at UNC.