VIPER Institute Sunset Symposium
The VIPER Institute was originally established within the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson in 2007, as an Arizona Board of Regents Center of Excellence. Beginning in 2018, it was housed in the University of Arizona’s BIO5 Institute. With affiliated scientists and clinicians around the world, VIPER members studied the effects of venom – from spiders, snakes and scorpions – on people and on animals. For more information, visit: http://viper.arizona.edu
Research into the toxinology of snake, spider and scorpion venom was a focus of the VIPER Institute over many years, and this event will bring together the innovators and scientists responsible for the discovery and development of some of the most important treatments for envenomation in the Americas. The themes to be featured during the main symposium will include translational toxinology, antivenom development and One Health toxinology.
This event will be held in the Health Sciences Innovation Building Forum with break-out sessions following.
Dr. Boyer is the founding director of the VIPER Institute. She was the principal investigator for the scorpion antivenom clinical studies program conducted throughout Arizona, including protocols for placebo-controlled, double-blind trials, open-label studies, historical control studies and the STING project. She coordinated phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of pit viper antivenom, developed the Antivenom Index and participated in the establishment of the Pan-American Lymphotoxinology Taskforce. Awards include, “Leading-Edge Researcher” by the UArizona, “Local Legend of Medicine” by the American Medical Women’s Association and the U.S. Library of Congress and “Hero of Rare Disease” by the Office of Orphan Products, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The American College of Medical Toxicologists has awarded her both its Research Achievement and the Matthew Ellenhorn Awards for career achievement. She was the Elsevier Speaker at the 2012 Venom Week/IST conference.