About AVRU

The Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU) is an internationally recognised interdisciplinary research unit focused on the problem of venomous injury in Australia and the Asia-Pacific. The AVRU was established by Associate Professor Struan Sutherland, formerly of CSL, on the 1st of July 1994 in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne. This followed an announcement by CSL Ltd (the former Commonwealth Serum Laboratories) that after a 65 year period, its interest in venom and antivenom research was to cease. The announcement was made immediately prior to the launch of CSL Ltd on the Australian Stock Exchange in May 1994. As such the Unit builds on 70 years of expertise concerning venom and antivenom research and advocacy at CSL. CSL assisted in the establishment of the Unit and initial annual funding came from the Victorian Department of Human Services. Since 2002 the Unit has been mostly funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Health and Ageing as well as the Australia Research Council. The Australian Venom Research Unit aims to provide world-class expertise on the problem of Australia's venomous creatures, their toxins and the care of the envenomed patient. The specific objectives of the Unit are described below.

A key activity of the Unit is to provide medical advice on envenomations, antivenoms and related issues to doctors, veterinarians, paramedical staff and poisons information centres, as well as zoos, reptile parks and keepers, various workplaces, government departments and the military, Australia-wide and internationally. A 24 hour consultancy service is available for DOCTORS AND PARAMEDICAL STAFF ONLY. The Unit also aims to increase public awareness of the dangers of venomous creatures, and the first aid measures for such bites and stings. It also works closely with the World Health Organisation in matters of antivenom standardisation as well as patient care.

The Unit also undertakes basic research into venoms of importance in Australia and the region. It has established and maintains a National Reference Collection of venoms and venom components for use in collaboratation with scientists throughout the world. The AVRU seeks to develop and improve antivenoms in association with a production companies in Australia and overseas. It also seeks venoms with novel activities that may have potential as either new therapeutic agents or investigational tools.

The Unit public health activities seek to define the burden of venomous bite and sting injury, and its determinants, in Australia and the Indo-Pacific region, and to be a Resource Centre for the dissemination of such information for injury prevention purposes. It is also a national pharmacovigilence centre for antivenom related adverse drug reactions and aims to improve the quality of epidemiological tools to study venomous bite and sting injuries in collaboration with leading injury researchers and national statistical agencies.

The AVRU contributes to the undergraduate and postgraduate training of medical and paramedical staff in research on venomous bite and sting injuries and their management. It also aims to enhance the evidence base underlying contemporary recommendations in the prevention and treatment of venomous bite and sting injuries through direct clinical research and the analysis of appropriate animal models. The Unit also provides expert advice and diagnostic services for the investigation of ante-mortem and post-mortem cases of suspected snake bite.

Last updated: July 2005