Stefanie Menzies

Senior Research Associate

Prior to joining LSTM I was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department for Molecular Microbiology at Washington University in St Louis, where I researched glycosyltransferases of Leishmania. I graduated with a PhD in Molecular Parasitology from the University of St Andrews, with a thesis entitled 'Investigating the Trypanocidal Activity of Simplified Natural Product-like Analogues and the Characterisation of a Novel Trypanosomatid-Specific Secondary Alternative Oxidase'

Research

My research activities focus on developing novel therapeutics and diagnostics to treat snakebite.

Novel Snakebite Therapeutics 

I have lead several large collaborative projects to identify novel therapeutics for snakebite envenoming to improve patient outcomes.

Design and production of virus-like particles as a replacement for venoms used in antivenom manufacture, and serological analysis of the resulting antisera (DFID funded SRPNTS project.

Comparative efficacy testing of the neutralising ability of antivenoms to inform governmental procurement decisions Testing of adenovirus-derived treatments for toxin neutralisation and pharmacokinetics of ADDovenom (EU funded ADDovenom(link is external)(opens in a new tab) project) 

Identification of repurposed small molecule inhibitors as treatments for Dispholidus typus envenoming

Diagnostics Development

Scientific lead for developing novel diagnostics for snakebite, and assisted with COVID-19 diagnostics projects at LSTM

Testing of recombinase polymerase amplification and latex agglutination tests for the identification of snake DNA in snakebite patients (RSTMH funded Small Grant)

Development and validation of PCR as a method for retrospective species identification of snake species from bite site swabs (as part of the NIHR funded African Snakebite Research Group) 

Collaboration with diagnostics companies to develop rapid diagnostic tests for snakebite 

Evaluated novel diagnostics for COVID-19, working with industrial partners and the NHS to generate evidence for product evaluation

Teaching

I teach on MSc Tropical Disease Biology modules: TROP936 Research Methods in Parasitology and Vector Biology TROP969 Key Topics in Snakebite TROP942 Research Project MSc and BSc dissertation supervisor

Affiliation

Associate Fellow of Advance HE

Recent publications: 

    Selected publications

    • Menzies SK, Dawson C, Crittenden E, Edge R, Hall S, Alsolaiss J, Wilkinson M, Casewell NR, Harrison RA and Ainsworth S ‘Virus-like particles displaying conserved toxin epitopes stimulate polyspecific, murine antibody responses capable of snake venom recognition’ Under revision at Scientific Reports, pre-print available.

      Menzies SK, Clare RH, Xie C, Westhorpe A, Hall SR, Edge RJ, Alsolaiss J, Crittenden E, Marriott AE, Harrison RA, Kool J and Casewell NR (2022) 'In vitro and in vivo preclinical venom inhibition assays identify metalloproteinase inhibiting drugs as potential future treatments for snakebite envenoming by Dispholidus typus' Toxicon:X Vol 14, June 2022

      Kay GA, Owen SI, Giorgi E, Clark DJ, Williams CT, Menzies SK, et al (2022) ‘Immunoglobulin-G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay predicts neutralising antibody response in convalescent SARS-CoV-2 patients’ Scientific Reports 2022 12:3351 

      Menzies SK, Thomas AO, Tianyi FL, Abubakar SB, Nasidi A, Durfa N, Patel R, Trelfa A, Lalloo DG, Habib AG and Harrison RA (2021) ‘Livestock herding and Fulani ethnicity are a combined risk factor for development of early adverse reactions to antivenom treatment: findings from a cross-sectional study in Nigeria’ PLoS NTDs https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009518

      Ainsworth SR, Menzies SK, Casewell NR and Harrison RA (2020) ‘An analysis of preclinical efficacy testing of antivenom for sub-Saharan Africa: Inadequate independent scrutiny and poor-quality reporting are barriers to improving snakebite treatments and management’ PLoS NTDs https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008579