2005 Young Tall Poppy Science Award Recipient

Dr Geoffrey Isbister
Newcastle Mater Hospital

Australia has a vast number of venomous terrestrial and marine creatures and some of these have particularly nasty bites and stings. Although there has been some excellent research done on a number of these creatures, a lot remains unknown to Australian researchers and medical practitioners. Dr Geoffrey Isbister conducts research into clinical toxicology, with a focus on the effects of bites and stings of venomous creatures, such as snakes, spiders and jellyfish.

After receiving a BSc and MBBS with first class Honours at the University of NSW, Geoffrey completed a specialist medical qualification in Emergency Medicine and an MD from the University of NSW with a thesis entitled “Data collection in clinical toxicology: debunking myths and developing diagnostic approaches to bites and stings”.

Geoffrey has worked to debunk the myth that White Tail Spiders are flesh eating monsters responsible for a severe form of skin ulceration, known as Necrotic Arachnidism. From a study conducted on 750 patients with Australian spider bites, Geoff and his colleagues found that none of the spider bites had resulted in ulcers, even though 130 of the bites were from white tailed spider bites. Rather than being a monster, White Tailed Spiders might actually help control the numbers of other spiders, including the truly dangerous Red Back. Geoff has just completed a study on hot water immersion for blue bottle stings that was published earlier this year that challenges the first aid treatment of blue bottle stings and featured on What's Good For You on Channel 9.
 
Geoffrey’s clinical work includes appointments as a clinical toxicologist to the NSW and Queensland Poison Information Centres and the Hunter Area Toxicology Service. In 2002 Geoff was selected as the Hunter Medical Research Institute Young Medical Researcher of the Year. Geoff currently has an NHMRC Clinical Career Development Award to conduct Australia-wide multicentre studies, including “The Australian Snakebite Project”, “The Redback spider antivenom evaluation study” and the use of hot water treatment in box jellyfish and blue bottle stings.

In addition to appearances on television, including ABC’s Catalyst and radio, and featuring in newspapers in Australia and abroad, Geoffrey has been particularly engaged in the education of young people, presenting in Newcastle and providing advice to ABC Children’s Television.

Geoffrey received a Young Tall Poppy Science Award in 2005.