David O'Hagan

Prof David O'Hagan is a Professor and Head of Organic Chemistry at the University of St Andrews' School of Chemistry. His research focuses on organofluorine chemistry, fluorination enzymology, and fluorine-18 chemistry for PET imaging. He holds a BSc from the University of Glasgow (1982), PhD from the University of Southampton (1985), and postdoctoral training at Ohio State University (1985–1986). Before St Andrews, he was at the University of Durham (1986–2000).

• Education: BSc (Glasgow, 1982), PhD (Southampton, 1985)

Research interests include fluorinated organic materials, natural product biosynthesis, and applications of fluorine in drug discovery. Notable contributions include the discovery of fluorinase enzyme isolation and the development of fluorinated antimicrobial agents.

Awards:

• Moissan Prize (2018)
• ACS Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry (2012)
• RSC Tilden Medal (2006/2007)
• FRSE (2004)

His work spans Streptomyces metabolites, fluorinated β-lactams, and olfactory receptor agonists. Supervised PhD students include George Kingsley-Moore and Josephine Stewart. Research often integrates synthetic chemistry with biological applications.