Anthony Hannan

Professor Anthony Hannan received his undergraduate training and PhD from the University of Sydney. He was then awarded the Australian Nuffield Medical Fellowship to pursue postdoctoral neuroscience research at the University of Oxford, where he subsequently held other positions. He returned to Australia to establish his laboratory at the Florey Institute in Melbourne, where he is a Theme Leader and Laboratory Head. Professor Hannan is head of Epigenetics and Neural Plasticity, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, with laboratories located at the University of Melbourne, where he holds a joint appointment. His laboratory investigates gene-environment interactions and experience-dependent plasticity in the healthy and diseased brain, using a variety of molecular, cellular and behavioural approaches. This research at the Florey is aimed at understanding disease mechanisms to facilitate the development of new therapeutic approaches for brain disorders such as Huntington's disease, depression, dementia, autism, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders. Recent discoveries have included new insights into brain-body interactions, such as the microbiota-gut-brain axis, in neurological and psychiatric disorders, and the potential roles of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in 'epigenopathy' and epigenetic resilience.