Dr Sharon Ladyman is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Neuroendocrinology at the University of Otago, New Zealand. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Otago then worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, and at Concordia University, Montreal, before returning to New Zealand. She has a senior position in Prof. Dave Grattan’s laboratory group which aims to understand hormone-induced adaptations of the maternal brain. Her work focuses on understanding the neuro-hormonal circuits that regulate hyperphagia, glucose regulation, suppression of physical activity and thermoregulation during pregnancy and lactation. She is also interested in understanding how going through pregnancy and lactation influences long term metabolic health. Her favourite hormone is leptin, but her current research can’t seem to escape from the hormone prolactin.