Benjamin Bande

Toxinologist

Benjamin Bande is a young researcher researching snake venom toxins in Papua New Guinea. After completing his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of PNG in October 2011, he joined the Charles Campbell Toxinology Center (CCTC) in January 2012 as a research graduate, led by Dr. David Williams, a renowned clinical toxinologist.

In 2013, he joined a team of researchers in Australia (Dr. Simon Jensen), Costa Rica (Professor Jose Maria Gutierrez), Spain (Professor Juan Calvete) and United Kingdom (Professor David Warrell) to trial the first monovalent antivenom, produced from the venom of local Papuan Taipan snake. The trial successfully ended in 2016. He also worked on antivenomics research on venoms of three South-East Asian snakes and their antivenoms at the Australian Venom Research Unit, University of Melbourne in 2019, to assess their efficacy. Mr Bande is passionate about scientific research and field science.