Stefanie Menzies and Becky Edge, ADDovenom postdoctoral researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, gave poster presentations at the 2022 Gordon Research Conference on Antibody Biology and Engineering, which took place in California (13-18 March).

The conference, Connecting B Cell Biology with Antibody Structure, Function and Applications, provided an opportunity to network with other scientists and to learn more about immunology. The discussions extended beyond antibodies, with other topics raised including albumin/Fc receptor interactions and DARPins, which are other moieties that can be used like antibodies, as ADDovenom will be doing with its ADDobodies and ADDomers. This made the conference an excellent environment in which to present the work of the ADDovenom project to a new audience.

Stefanie’s poster was an overview of the ADDovenom project: what it aims to achieve, the methods to be used, the partners involved, and why ADDovenom is predicted to have numerous advantages over existing antivenoms. The poster is now in the herpetarium at LSTM so it will be on display for all future tours and public engagement activities. Becky’s poster was titled: ‘Utilising virus like particle plug and play technology to improve snakebite treatments through the use of rationally designed immunogens’.

After the conference, Stefanie and Becky saw several snakes while hiking, including the rattlesnake pictured.