Richard Lewis commenced PhD studies on ciguatera fish poisoning at the University of Queensland with the late Bob Endean, In 1995, he initiated research into conotoxins, small venom peptides produced by cone snails at The University of Queensland (UQ). This research led to the discovery of Xen2174, a non-competitive norepinephrine transporter inhibitor for pain. Xen2174 was taken into clinical trials by Xenome Ltd, a company he co-founded to develop the therapeutic potential of venom peptides. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at UQ. His talk will focus on the biology, chemistry and pharmacology of conotoxins and ciguatoxins, highlighting past achievements and recent breakthroughs in understanding the ontogenetics of cone snails and the development of predatory and defensive venoms.