Christian Hartinger

Professor Christian Hartinger is a distinguished academic in the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland, where he serves as a Professor in the Chemical Sciences department. With over two decades of research experience, he leads an internationally recognized research group focused on bioinorganic chemistry and medicinal inorganic chemistry. His academic journey spans institutions including the University of Vienna, EPFL in Switzerland, and the University of Auckland, where he has been faculty since 2011.

Professor Hartinger completed his Mag. rer. nat. (MSc) at the University of Vienna in 1999, followed by his Dr. rer. nat. (PhD) in Chemistry in 2001 under Bernhard Keppler. After research at the University of Vienna, he joined Paul Dyson's group at EPFL as a Schrödinger Fellow (2006-2008). He returned to Vienna to complete his habilitation in Inorganic Chemistry in 2009 before moving to New Zealand in 2011.

His research spans the interdisciplinary area of bioinorganic chemistry, with a focus on the design of new metallodrugs built on organometallic scaffolds featuring bioactive ligand systems. Key areas include complexes of pyridinethiocarbamides, hydroxamic acids, flavonols, and maleimides. More recently, his group has developed interests in supramolecular chemistry, focusing on stimulus-responsive systems for drug delivery and catalysis. His analytical methodology development has contributed significantly to understanding metallodrug behavior in complex biological environments.

Professor Hartinger's scientific achievements have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards:

• Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry Early Career Award (2016)
• NZ Institute of Chemistry's Maurice Wilkins Centre Prize (2016)
• NZAS Hill Tinsley Medal (2017)
• Morrison Medal (2019)
• RACI Inorganic Division Burrows Award (2022)
• ISBOMC Award (2023)
• Humboldt Research Award (2024)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (2021)
• New Zealand Mana Tūārangi Distinguished Researcher Fellowship (2025-2027)

As an accredited PhD supervisor, Professor Hartinger provides opportunities for graduate students in the development of anticancer metallodrugs and related analytical methodologies. His research group employs a highly interdisciplinary approach combining inorganic and organic synthesis, supramolecular chemistry, analytical chemistry, biology, pharmacy and medicine. The group's work has resulted in numerous high-impact publications in top journals and significant contributions to understanding the mechanisms of metallodrugs.

Professor Hartinger's laboratory, the Hartinger Research Group, focuses on developing novel metallodrugs with multimodal/multitargeted properties and understanding their interactions with biological systems. The group has made significant contributions to identifying protein targets of anticancer ruthenium complexes and developing analytical methods to study metallodrug-protein interactions. Their recent work on stimulus-responsive supramolecular systems represents an exciting new direction in drug delivery applications.