Richard Lewis

I started my research career doing a PhD on a fish poisoning known as ciguatera at the University of Queensland (UQ), identifying the toxins involved and their pharmacological effects. I then got a job at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries to continue my ciguatera research to now include deterring its origin and treatment and attempting to develop a rapid diagnostic. My research on venoms started with a move back to UQ, where I have been working for the last 20 years identifying and characterising novel venom peptides. Many of these are now used as research tools, with two found to be effective at reversing severe pain in Phase II clinical trials. My current research on pain is supported by an NHMRC Program Grant, three ARC Linkage grants, and the recently funded IMB Centre for Pain Research at UQ, while a recently awarded ARC Discovery grant will contribute to a better understanding of the unique predatory and defensive venoms my group recently uncovered in cone snails.