Tony Davis gained a B.A. in Chemistry from Oxford University in 1977, then stayed for D.Phil. and postdoctoral research. In 1981 he moved to the ETH Zürich as a Royal Society European Exchange Fellow working with Prof. A. Eschenmoser, then in 1982 was appointed as a Lecturer in Organic Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin. In September 2000 he moved to the University of Bristol, where he is Professor of Supramolecular Chemistry in the School of Chemistry. In 2002 he was awarded the Tilden Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, in 2015 the RSC Award for Physical Organic Chemistry, and in 2020 the RSC Robert Robinson Award. In 2014 he co-founded Ziylo with Harry Destecroix, and is also a cofounder of Carbometrics. He is currently Chair of the Editorial Board of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry.

Tony’s research has focused on the design of functional molecules which are inspired by biology and effective enough for use in biomedical settings. In particular, he has played a leading role in the development of molecules which bind carbohydrates, especially glucose. In 2015 he designed the glucose binding molecule which underpins Ziylo’s and Carbometrics’ technology. In 2023 he was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for further work on carbohydrate recognition.