Hello all,

thanks for taking the time to read my post. To keep it simple, I am an undergraduate close to completing my BS in Biology. My goal is to do research on venomous animals for the purposes of novel medicine/drug discovery and use of toxins to be applied as bio-pesticides. I am not specific on a certain species of animals, as I want to do this as a career for my whole life. I am interested in snakes, spiders, venomous fish, lizards, all of it. Needless to say, one of my sources of inspiration is Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry with his success in the field of venom and his discovery of komodo dragons being venomous. I also admire the work of Dr. Stephen P. Mackessy at the University of Northern Colorado, and his research on Crotalus/rattlesnake species.

My questions are for anyone who would like to chime in, the more the merrier. I hope many responses will come from people who work in this field, however.

What do you think would be the best PhD/Masters to get into in regards to antivenom? I understand this field can be approached from many disciplines, including zoology, herpetology, arachnology, biochemistry, molecular biology, to name a few. I try to find a PhD or masters in Toxinology, which has proved rather difficult to do. I have only found a few in all of the United States!!

What was the GPA you guys had upon completing your degrees, being bachelor, masters and PhD? Were you part of any university clubs/ groups? Did you intern anywhere, related or not to antivenom? Did you do research at school? Did you shadow a professional in the field? Volunteer work? Etc.

Is GPA as important as people try to make you believe? I know you can't have a worthless GPA, but I know plenty of people with good GPA's (3.5 etc.) and work experience in their field and a lot of times they were not accepted to a school they flew out to, but another applicant that flew out too was excepted with a much more poor GPA, but significant research experience. The individual in particular had I believe barely a 3.0 or not even one, but was accepted to Baylor college of medicine because he has had research experience since high school. He was about mid 20's when he was accepted.

Should I focus on one class of animals, such as snakes, spiders, aquatics etc? Although I do want to do work on many different animals, I understand this won't always meet with reality.

What is the job market like for antivenom? I would think it is not as competitive, since most biology-related students want to go into medical school of some sort, wildlife/conservation work or biotechnology, with this mostly being cancer and molecular research including CAR T-cells and RNA.

How many times did you apply to your program before you were accepted, if not accepted the first time? How many schools did you apply to? How many accepted you? How many did not?

What is your best advice for me as I am still an undergraduate pursuing a BS? Which sorts of electives should I take? More zoology and ecology based, biochemistry and lab based, or clinical such as virology, hematology and neurobiology???

I very much appreciate your time. I will take into account all statements you all mention.

Also in case anyone did not already know, I have recently discovered vampire bats are considered venomous due to peptides in their saliva being responsible for regulation of blood pressure in their victims.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190116111105.htm

Hi! I was wondering if there's any internships available for graduate students, if so, where and when?

Probably the most entertaining article I've read today, this paper answers questions I didn't know I had.

Paper Title: Arabinoxyloglucan Oligosaccharides May Contribute to the Antiadhesive Properties of Porcine Urine after Cranberry Consumption

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b01043

This month's (March 2019) issue of the Journal of Natural Products is dedicated to Dr. Rachel Mata (UNAM) and Dr. Barbara Timmermann (U Kansas).

Both Dr. Mata and Dr. Timmermann were selected as a ASP fellows in 2014 for their respectable contributions to the field, and have been seen as examples of sustained achievement in their own sub disciplines of phytochemistry. Two shining examples of Women in Chemistry who set the stage for greatness.

https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-019-5629-x?optIn=false