Gregory J. Hannon, PhD, a Fellow of the AACR Academy who was director of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Cambridge Institute and previously served as a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CHSL), died April 4, 2026, at the age of 61.
Hannon was known for his work integrating small RNA biology with genomics to better understand the etiology of disease and identify new drug targets for the treatment of cancer. He also studied the fundamental mechanisms of cell cycle regulation, with key discoveries including the identification of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors and characterization of their role in cancer progression.
Born May 5, 1964, and raised in New Castle, Pennsylvania, Hannon earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1986 and a doctorate in molecular biology from Case Western in 1992.
After completing a fellowship at CSHL, he joined the faculty there and was promoted to assistant professor in 1996 and full professor in 2002. He became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 2005.
Hannon moved to the CRUK Institute as a senior group leader in 2014 and was named director in 2018. He was also a professor of oncology at Cambridge University and a fellow of Trinity College.
A member of AACR since 2002, Hannon received the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research in 2005. He was elected as a fellow of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences in 2019 and as a Fellow of the AACR Academy in the class of 2020.
Hannon was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2012, the Royal Society of London in 2018, and the European Academy of Cancer Sciences in 2019. He was also a fellow of the U.K. Academy of Medical Sciences and the European Molecular Biology Organization.
He received the NAS Award in Molecular Biology in 2007 and the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the same year.
Selected Awards and Honors
2019 Elected Fellow, European Academy of Cancer Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden
2018 Elected Fellow, The Royal Society, London, United Kingdom
2018 Elected Member, European Molecular Biology Organization, Heidelberg, Germany
2017 Elected Fellow, Academy of Medical Sciences, London, United Kingdom
2015 Wolfson Professor of Molecular Cancer Biology, The Royal Society, London, United Kingdom
2012 Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
2007 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
2007 NAS Award in Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
2005 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2002 Innovator Award, Breast Cancer Research Program, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, U.S. Department of Defense, Fort Detrick, Maryland
2000 Rita Allen Scholar, Rita Allen Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey
[Institutional affiliations listed for Fellows reflect those held at the time of their induction into the AACR Academy.]