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Contact Details

Phone
+64 3 479 7081
Email
richard.cannon@otago.ac.nz
Position
Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Deputy Dean (Academic), Faculty of Dentistry
Department
Department of Oral Sciences
Qualifications
MA PhD(Cantab)
Research summary
Oral biology, oral microbiology and antifungal drug resistance
Teaching
Professor Cannon teaches oral microbiology to dental students, oral health students, and dental technology students

Research

Professor Cannon is a molecular microbiologist with research interests in oral microbial infections, oral biology, and tissue regeneration. He has studied the role of saliva in oral colonisation by bacteria and yeast. He has investigated the virulence genes of the oral fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Professor Cannon has applied molecular biology and metabolomic approaches to investigate dimorphism in C. albicans and the molecular basis of cancer.

A major focus of his research is the drug resistance of human fungal pathogens. He has found that clinically significant fungal drug resistance is due to energy-dependent drug efflux from the cell. His research group has developed a unique system for expressing and studying these efflux pumps, and other membrane proteins, in baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. He is currently using S. cerevisiae strains expressing efflux pumps from a variety of fungi to study pump function and structure and to search for pump inhibitors. Professor Cannon also contributes to research on tissue regeneration of relevance to bone defects and periodontal disease.

Publications

Huang, M., Fan, D., Liu, N., Zhao, H., Chen, Y., Tang, H., … Cannon, R., … Chen, T. (2026). Trem2+ macrophages dysfunction via GAS6-MerTK axis persists despite glycemic normalization, impairing diabetic bone healing. Genes & Diseases. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2026.102285 Journal - Research Article

Yu, M., Dai, H., Zhong, X., Li, Q., Yuan, H., Yang, Y., … Cannon, R. D., … Han, T.-L. (2026). Nanocellulose alleviates intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy via gut microbiota-mediated bile acid homeostasis. Advanced Science. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/advs.202518337 Journal - Research Article

Li, H., Song, G., Zhou, L., Zhang, M., Li, Y., Liu, X., … Cannon, R. D., … Zhang, H. (2026). Reduced FBXO22 skews human trophoblast fate equilibrium toward syncytialization via polyubiquitinating the CoREST complex. Nucleic Acids Research, 54(10), gkag557. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkag557 Journal - Research Article

Xiang, J., Zhang, Y., Bai, H., He, Y., Zhao, S., Mei, L., Cannon, R. D., … Zhai, Q. (2026). Squamous carcinoma cells drive lipid metabolic reprogramming of macrophages in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by tunneling nanotube-mediated mitochondrial transfer. Journal of the National Cancer Center. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.jncc.2026.04.003 Journal - Research Article

Wu, T., Farella, M., Guan, S., Cannon, R. D., & Mei, L. (2026). Effects of residual adhesive debonding methods on human enamel: a scoping review. Seminars in Orthodontics, 32(3), 477-485. doi: 10.1053/j.sodo.2025.10.003 Journal - Research Article

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