Rate My Professor Mike Hannon

Professor Mike Hannon holds the Chair of Chemical Biology in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham. He obtained a B.A. in Natural Sciences (first class) from the University of Cambridge in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge in 1994. His academic career commenced with a lectureship in Chemistry at the University of Warwick from 1994 to 2002, followed by promotion to Senior Lecturer (2002-2004), Reader (2004-2005), and Professor of Chemistry in 2005. In Autumn 2005, he joined the University of Birmingham as Professor of Chemical Biology. He has held the position of Director of the PSIBS Biomedical Imaging Centre since 2008 and served as Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies from 2015 to 2019.

Hannon's research operates at the interface between chemistry and the life sciences, centering on metal complexes as imaging agents and therapeutics in biology and medicine. His group pioneers synthetic nanoscale metallo-supramolecular architectures, including cylinders and helicates, that exhibit strong binding to DNA and RNA junctions, induce DNA coiling, and demonstrate potential as anti-cancer metallo-drugs. This work on non-covalent recognition of DNA Y-shaped junctions has transformed the field, spurring international efforts in DNA recognition and therapeutic applications. Key publications include 'Supramolecular DNA recognition' (Chemical Society Reviews, 2007), 'Molecular recognition of a three-way DNA junction by a metallosupramolecular helicate' (Angewandte Chemie, 2006), 'Intramolecular DNA coiling mediated by a metallo-supramolecular cylinder' (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2001), and recent advances such as 'Supramolecular Recognition of a DNA Four-Way Junction by an M2L4 Metallo-Cage' (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2025). Awards include the Royal Society ESEP Fellowship (1993-1994), Sir Edward Frankland Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2004-2005), Bob Hay Lectureship (2002), and Westminster Prize (1997). He chaired the Gordon Research Conference 'Metals in Medicine' (2014) and the 14th European Biological Inorganic Chemistry conference (2018), served as President of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, chaired EU COST Action D39 on Metallo-Drug Design, and is on the editorial board of Supramolecular Chemistry.