Michela L. Mitchell Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution Conference 2016

Michela L. Mitchell

Dr Michela Mitchell, CF, is an independant researcher with co- appointments as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Adelaide University, SA, and a postdoctoral researcher at James Cook University, Townsville, QLD.  Michela is a dual specialist, a marine taxonomist and toxinologist, becoming a Churchill Fellow in 2022, travelling globally to identify bottlenecks in the discovery, development and delivery process for a marketable venom bio-applications (e.g. anti-venom, therapeutics and agricides) which can take in excess of 25 years to deliver to market. She completed a Master's in sea-anemone taxonomy at Southern Cross University, becoming the first on-the- ground taxonomist in Australia followed by a PhD (2019) at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), Melbourne, Australia. Her doctoral research focused on using venomics (transcriptomics, proteomics and bioinformatics) to explore sea-anemone venom to discover novel peptide toxins, their evolution, and assess them for therapeutic leads.  She is passionate about broadening the use of museum collections to assess the impact of climate change on venomous species distribution and venom composition for public health. Recently awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Excellence grant as an Associate Investigator in the ‘Curse and Cure: The Deadly Venom Project’ harnessing the unique properties of venom with a focus to deliver transformative therapies for priority health challenges and envenomation for Indigenous Australians.