Hadley Johnson

Hadley graduated from Colgate University in 2025 with high honors in Neuroscience and a minor in Music. Her undergraduate thesis project in the lab of Prof. Jason Meyers focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying regeneration in the zebrafish lateral line. Later that year, she began her Master’s studies at the University of Cambridge Institute of Metabolic Science with Dr. Laura Dearden investigating the impact of maternal obesity and GLP-1 agonist medications, namely semgalutide, on fetal neural development. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, her lab demonstrated the placental transfer of semaglutide to the fetus following gestational exposure, allowing for further investigation of the feeding circuitry driving long-term metabolic complications like childhood obesity and diabetes.

Through the NIH-OxCam program and member of St. Cross College, Hadley will begin her studies at the University of Oxford with Dr. David Dupret in the Brain Network Dynamics Unit to examine how memory is influenced by obesogenic diets and could be potentially restored with semaglutide. She will transition to the lab of Dr. Michael Krashes at NIDDK to continue her studies of the neural networks motivating feeding behavior. In her free time, Hadley is a member of several choirs and enjoys travelling, baking, and spending time outside.