Associate Professor Michael Patrick Hay

Biography

Michael Hay obtained his BSc (Hons) and PhD in Chemistry from The University of Canterbury, New Zealand. After postdoctoral positions  at Imperial College, London, and the University of Auckland, Michael was appointed as a Research Fellow in the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre in 1991. He was appointed as an Associate Professor in 2011 and leads a group investigating tumour selective drug delivery targeting the tumour microenvironment. Michael was appointed Director of the ACSRC in 2020. 

Research interests:

• Medicinal chemistry
• Drug design
• Drug development
• DNA damage response
• Hypoxia activated prodrugs
• Prodrugs
• Cancer research
• Radiotherapy
• Hypoxia

Research | Current

Michael is interested in developing novel therapeutics that target the tumour microenvironment through bioreductive mechanisms and/or selective target inhibition. Current research interests include:

• Discovery of new hypoxia-activated prodrugs
• Development of nitroimidazole-based radiosensitisers
• Development of novel agents targeting DNA damage response pathways.
• Development of hypoxia-selective cytotoxins and radiation response modifiers based on the 1,2,4-benzotriazine dioxide core.
• Design and synthesis of drugs that target hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1alpha).

Distinctions/Honours

Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry

Committees/Professional groups/Services

Member of the Medical Committee Auckland Medical Research Foundation

Member of the Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences Committee, Australian Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Engineering