Debbie Hay


Deborah Lucy Hay is a New Zealand academic. In 2022, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Academic career

After an undergraduate in pharmacology at the University of Sheffield, Hay did a PhD in molecular pharmacology entitled 'Investigation of the calcitonin receptor-like receptor and receptor activity modifying proteins' at Imperial College London. Hay moved to the University of Auckland, where she rose to full professor. She is now a full professor at the University of Otago and is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society.
Her research involves molecular pharmacological techniques to investigate phenomenon such as migraines. In 2016 she was awarded a James Cook Research Fellowship to investigate the causes and potential new treatments for migraines.
In 2022, Hay was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. The society said "Professor Debbie Hay is an innovative molecular pharmacologist whose seminal contributions have enhanced understanding of the roles of G protein-coupled receptors in conditions such as migraine, diabetes and obesity......she has established herself as a world leader in a complex field, in high demand internationally as a collaborator, speaker, writer and consultant to industry."

Selected works