Rate My Professor Thomas Bannister

Bannister specializes in organic and medicinal chemistry applied to drug discovery, collaborating extensively with experts in neuroscience and cancer biology to advance treatments for unmet medical needs. His research encompasses biased mu opioid receptor agonists that deliver pain relief while minimizing side effects, with seminal findings published in Cell (2017) and featured on the cover of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2018); NOP receptor agonists targeting PTSD and alcohol addiction relapse; NAD-elevating neuroprotectants for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS; KLF5 inhibitors for colorectal cancer; TBK1 and IKKε dual kinase inhibitors for hormone-refractory prostate cancer; inhibitors of CK1δ, ASK1, and ULK1 kinases for various cancers; and modulators of the HIPPO-YAP pathway. Additional efforts involve high-throughput screening to develop first-in-class chemical probes for cancers, glaucoma, ALS, infectious diseases, addiction, and mood disorders including GPR151 modulators for addiction, depression, and schizophrenia. Bannister's leadership in the field includes serving as Chair of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Medicinal Chemistry Division in 2016, Chair of the ACS MEDI Long Range Planning Committee in 2015, and multiple terms on planning committees from 2009 to 2016. His work supports multiple NIH-funded projects as co-principal investigator or named investigator.