Professor Frank Gannon

QIMR Director and CEO

Professor Frank Gannon is QIMR's seventh Director and CEO. In this role he is responsible for the research work undertaken by the Institute and management of employees, under the overall control of the Council. Professor Frank Gannon joined QIMR as Director and CEO in January 2011. Previously, Professor Gannon was the Director General at the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) from 2007.

From 1994-2007, Professor Gannon was the Executive Director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and Senior Scientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), based in Germany; and Director of the National Diagnostic Centre and Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology at University College Galway, Ireland (1981-1994).

He obtained a Bachelor of Science from the National University of Ireland, Galway in 1970; a PhD from the University of Leicester, England in 1973; was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Madison Wisconsin, USA from 1973 to 1975; and Chargé de Recherche in INSERM at the University of Strasbourg, France from 1975 to 1981, after which he returned to Galway.

His major research interest is the expression and functional regulation of the oestrogen receptor, which plays a major role in breast cancer and osteoporosis. These studies have provided leads to novel treatments or therapeutic approaches to these and other cancers.

Professor Gannon has authored over 200 research articles published in international journals. In addition, from 2000-2008, he contributed to a monthly editorial to EMBO Reports of which he was founding Senior Editor. He also writes extensively on diverse topics related to science policy. Professor Gannon has seven patent applications, four of which are active at present and was the founder of both Bimini Ltd (1990) and Elara Pharmaceuticals (2006). He was a member of the interim Board of Science Foundation Ireland from 2002 to 2004 and was elected as a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2007 and the Mexican Academy of Medicine in 2008.

He has been awarded honorary Doctorates by the University of Jozsef Attila, Szeged (Hungary), The University of Queensland and Queens University Belfast (Northern Ireland).
He has served on a range of high-level scientific advisory boards at institutes throughout the world and was co-founder of the European Life Sciences Forum (ELSF) and the Initiative for Science Europe (ISE) that played significant roles in the establishment of the European Research Council (ERC).

He was Vice President of the European Heads of Research Council and an advisor to the European Union Commissioner for Research and Innovation prior to his move to Brisbane.

In 2012, Professor Gannon was appointed as a Queensland Academy of Arts and Science Fellow.