Mark Moloney's Biography

Mark Moloney, Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford

Mark Moloney was appointed as a University Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and as EP Abrahams’ Tutorial Fellow in Chemistry (St Peter’s College) at Oxford University in 1990, and is currently Professor of Chemistry, having previously been Reader in Chemistry (2006-2010); prior to that, he had completed his undergraduate (B.Sc.(Hons.) and University Medal) and graduate studies (Ph.D. (Chemistry)) at the University of Sydney. Spells working at the Atomic Energy Facility (Lucas Heights) and ICI (Botany) gave him an appetite for commercially relevant projects. After arriving in Oxford in 1985, he embarked on research related to penicillin biosynthesis in the research group of Professor Sir Jack Baldwin FRS, where he worked on photoaffinity labelling studies of IPNS using an approach with diazirine-modified tripeptides to probe the enzyme binding site. Since commencing his independent academic career, his research interests have been the synthesis of functionalised, saturated enantiopure nitrogen heterocycles of biological relevance with an emphasis on antibacterials, anticancer agents and neuroexcitatory agents; the development of new synthetic methodology using main group metal-mediated reactions; and the development of direct chemical methods for the surface functionalisation of synthetic and natural polymers. Although he has enjoyed substantial EPSRC support, much of this work has also been funded by industry. He was selected as a finalist in the 2006 EPSRC Business Plan Competition his technology has formed the basis of a spin-out company Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group plc. This work has resulted in the publication of 160 papers in the primary, monograph and review literature, and numerous national and international lectures and posters at academic, industrial and conference locations. He has authored three teaching texts. He is a member of the Editorial Board for two journals (Combinatorial and Drug Discovery Technologies; Current Organic Synthesis; Open Organic Chemistry Journal), and is an international expert referee for ASTAR (Singapore) and ARC (Australia). He completed the Diploma in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Oxford) in its inaugural year in 2000, was the University of Oxford Nominee for Excellence in Teaching for 2002, and was the Times Higher Education Serendipity Award winner (2009) and won an Oxford Teaching Award (2010). He is a member of the EPSRC 2006 College of Referees.