Associate Professor Johanna Montgomery

PhD (Physiology), University of Otago

Associate Professor

In: Physiology » Medical Science » Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences

Biography

Associate Professor Johanna Montgomery completed her PhD in Physiology at the University of Otago. She then performed her postdoctoral research at Stanford University USA, where her research focus was the plasticity of synapses in the hippocampus. She returned to New Zealand where she is Principal Investigator of the Synaptic Function Research Group in the Department of Physiology at the University of Auckland. Her research team focusses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie the physiology of synapses in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Her laboratory combines electrophysiology, molecular biology and imaging techniques to investigate how changes in synapse function could underlie developmental disorders such as Autism, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's Disease. Recently, her research has expanded to examine how neuronal, synapse and myocyte plasticity may contribute to normal and abnormal heart rhythm.

Lab webpage: Synaptic Function Research Group

Lab members

Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Fellows: Dr Juliette Cheyne, Dr Annika Winbo, Dr Jesse Ashton, Dr Kevin Lee, Dr Yewon Jung, Dr Liam Argent, Dr Angelo Tedoldi
PhD students: Yuktiben Vyas, Joscelin Smith, Giselle Wong
Honours students: Fluer Fernandez, Hamish Skelton-Kyd

Teaching | Current

Course Director, Medsci 206: Introduction to Neuroscience

Course Director, Medsci 733: Advanced Methods in Cell Physiology

Currently teaching in:

Medsci 206: Introduction to Neuroscience

Medsci 317: Integrative Neuroscience

Medsci 727: Advanced Neuroscience

Medsci 733: Advanced Methods in Cell Physiology

Distinctions/Honours

2018: Physiological Society of New Zealand Excellence in Research Award

2016: Royal Society London Colin Pillinger International Exchanges Award

2015: Kellaway Medical Research Fellowship

2015: DAAD Research Stay Award, Germany

2010: Rand Research Award, Colwin Research Award, Marine Biological Laboratory, USA.

2007: University of Auckland Early Career Research Excellence Award

2005: Eppendorf and Science International Prize for Neurobiology, Finalist Award

2005: Fulbright New Zealand Award

2001: Servier Distinguished Young Investigator Award, presented by the International Union of Physiological Scientists

2000: Kathryn MacCormack Scholarship (Stanford University)

1998: Goddard Prize, Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research

Areas of expertise

Electrophysiology (whole cell patch clamp) and cell biology.

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Vyas, Y., Lee, K., Jung, Y., & Montgomery, J. M. (2020). Influence of maternal zinc supplementation on the development of autism-associated behavioural and synaptic deficits in offspring Shank3-knockout mice. Molecular brain, 13 (1)10.1186/s13041-020-00650-0
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Yukti Vyas, Kevin Lee
Sigalas, C., Cremer, M., Winbo, A., Bose, S. J., Ashton, J. L., Bub, G., ... Burton, R. A. B. (2020). Combining tissue engineering and optical imaging approaches to explore interactions along the neuro-cardiac axis. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, 7 (6)10.1098/rsos.200265
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Annika Winbo, Jesse Ashton
Sigalas, C., Cremer, M., Winbo, A., Bose, S. J., Ashton, J. L., Bub, G., ... Burton, R. A. B. (2020). Combining tissue engineering and optical imaging approaches to explore interactions along the neuro-cardiac axis: Neuro-cardiac research. Royal Society Open Science, 7 (6).10.1098/rsos.200265rsos200265
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jesse Ashton, Annika Winbo
Cheyne, J. E., & Montgomery, J. M. (2020). The cellular and molecular basis of in vivo synaptic plasticity in rodents. American journal of physiology. Cell physiology, 318 (6), C1264-C1283. 10.1152/ajpcell.00416.2019
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Juliette Cheyne
Ashton, J. L., Argent, L., Smith, J. E. G., Jin, S., Sands, G. B., Smaill, B. H., & Montgomery, J. M. (2020). Evidence of structural and functional plasticity occurring within the intracardiac nervous system of spontaneously hypertensive rats. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 318 (6), H1387-H1400. 10.1152/ajpheart.00020.2020
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jesse Ashton, Liam Argent, Gregory Sands, Bruce Smaill
Winbo, A., Ashton, J. L., & Montgomery, J. M. (2020). Neuroscience in the heart: Recent advances in neurocardiac communication and its role in cardiac arrhythmias. The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology, 12210.1016/j.biocel.2020.105737
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jesse Ashton, Annika Winbo
Vyas, Y., Montgomery, J. M., & Cheyne, J. E. (2020). Hippocampal Deficits in Amyloid-beta-Related Rodent Models of Alzheimer's Disease. FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE, 1410.3389/fnins.2020.00266
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Yukti Vyas, Juliette Cheyne
Lee, K., Park, T. I.-H., Heppner, P., Schweder, P., Mee, E. W., Dragunow, M., & Montgomery, J. M. (2020). Human in vitro systems for examining synaptic function and plasticity in the brain. Journal of neurophysiology, 123 (3), 945-965. 10.1152/jn.00411.2019
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Thomas Park, Kevin Lee, Michael Dragunow