M.G. Finn

Finn studied chemistry at Caltech on a bursary from Eastman Kodak, earning his Bachelor's degree in 1980. After a brief period of research at Eastman Kodak, he joined the group of future Nobel prize winner, Barry Sharpless, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he gained his PhD in 1986 with his thesis "On the mechanism of titanium-tartrate catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation".[1] He carried out postdoctoral research with James P. Collman at Stanford University, before joining the faculty of University of Virginia in 1988. He moved to the Scripps Research Institute in 1998 and to Georgia Tech in 2013, where he currently holds the James A. Carlos Family Chair for Pediatric Technology, and is chief scientific officer of the Children's healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Technology Center.[2][3]

Finn's research concentrates on the development of methods for the synthesis of biologically-important molecules, such as functional virus-like particles. He coined the term Click chemistry with Barry Sharpless and Hartmuth C. Kolb. He also works on the mechanism and optimisation of copper-catalysed azide-alkyl cycloaddition; on targeted synthesis of enzyme inhibitors and antivirals; on bio-conjugation and chemical materials science; on the immunology of carbohydrates; and with new methods of enzyme development.

His laboratory works with viruses as building-blocks for targeted development of biologically active molecules.

In 2012 he received an Alexander von Humboldt foundation award. He is Editor-in-Chief of ACS Combinatorial Science.[4] In 2013 Thomson Reuters suggested that Finn could potentially win a Nobel prize for his ground-breaking work on click chemistry.[5]

M.G. Finn's real first name is M.G. He and his wife, Beth, have two children, Allison and Marc.[3]

He was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

• Finn-lab website