Professor Johanna Montgomery completed her PhD in Physiology at the University of Otago New Zealand. She then performed her postdoctoral research at Stanford University USA where she gained her expertise in electrophysiology to examine neural plasticity in the central and peripheral nervous systems. She then established her lab at the University of Auckland, where her research examines neural plasticity and its role in neurodevelopmental disorders as well as in regulating heart rhythm. She has been awarded national and international awards including the Physiological Society of New Zealand Excellence in Research Award, the Colin Pillinger International Exchanges Award (Royal Society London), the Eppendorf and Science International Prize for Neurobiology Finalist Award, and the Servier Distinguished Young Investigator Award (International Union of Physiological Scientists).