Professor Michael Thompson obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Wales, UK, and his PhD in analytical chemistry from McMaster University. Following a period as a Science Research Council PDF at Swansea University, UK, he was appointed Lecturer in Instrumental Analysis at Loughborough University. He then moved to the University of Toronto where he is now a Professor of Bioanalytical Chemistry. He has held many distinguished research posts including the Leverhulme Fellowship at the University of Durham and the Science Foundation Ireland E.T.S Walton Research Fellowship at the Tyndall National Institute, Cork City.  He is recognized internationally for his pioneering work over many years in research into new biosensor technologies and the surface chemistry of biochemical and biological entities. He has served on the Editorial Boards of many major international journals including Analytical Chemistry and The Analyst. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the monograph series “Detection Science” for the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK. He has been awarded many prestigious international prizes for his research including The Robert Boyle Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, The Elsevier Prize in Biosensor and Bioelectronic Technology, the E.W.R. Steacie Award of the Chemical Society of Canada, and recently the 2023 Royal Society of Chemistry Horizons Prize in Analytical Science. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1999.