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As head of the Monash Venom Group in the Faculty of Medicine, Dr Wayne Hodgson
studies things that creep and crawl.
Wayne has been at Monash since he left school, first studying science here in the early 1980s.
His major in pharmacology subsequently led to a PhD, undertaking research into the area of diabetes. One of the pathways activated by diabetes is also activated by ant venom, which led him into his current specialty.
Now Wayne heads one of the country's foremost venom research facilities, leading a team of six.
The group's aim is to isolate toxins from venom which are useful for drug development, as well as studying the applications of anti-venom.
Wayne is one of the few people happy that Australia is home to so many venomous creatures. At international conferences he is sometimes the envy of researchers from relatively 'benign' countries.
His lab houses numerous venomous spiders and stonefish and despite claiming to have no fear of them, he says he "is smart enough to let the students play with the animals".
In his spare time, Wayne is a professional tennis referee and has officiated at the Australian Open and the Davis Cup. He is looking forward to refereeing at the Paralympics in October.
- Lisa Pawlicka
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