Fan Hui Wen

I started my career working at Instituto Butantan, where I have developed extensive experience for over thirty years on the management of patients bitten or stung by venomous animals, with emphasis in emergency care and antivenom treatment of snakebite envenoming (SBE), dedicating also to training health professionals on diagnosis and treatment of SBE across Brazil and South America. During this period, I had opportunity to take part in clinical research assessing the efficacy and safety antivenoms produced in Brazil, epidemiological and clinical aspects of SBE, in collaboration with healthcare hospitals, national and international academic institutions.

Besides publishing scientific articles, I also have been involved in drawing up of guidelines and educational materials, seminars, and trainings for healthcare professionals, as part of a temporary job at the Brazilian Ministry of Health. At the national program for snakebite control and epidemiological surveillance, I took part in the group responsible for planning antivenom acquisition and distribution, to increase availability and accessibility of antivenom treatment for SBE patients, especially in remote areas.

In the last ten years, I have been working in the antivenom manufacture industrial plant, coordinating groups involved in the different steps of the production process of equine-derived immunoglobulins, including antivenoms, antitoxins and anti-rabies immunoglobulins. I have been actively participating in a network among Latin American antivenom-manufacturing laboratories, coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization, in initiatives to improve antivenom production processes, preclinical and clinical studies on therapeutical response to antivenom administration. In partnership with research groups working in Amazon region, I have been also involved in projects aiming to improve access to antivenom for vulnerable groups, such as indigenous and riverine communities.