Dr. Hay is a distinguished scholar in the field of cardiovascular neurobiology, with more than 26 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other sources. Her research focuses on the role of sex and sex hormones in the development of hypertension, and she has made significant contributions to the understanding of central renin angiotensin mechanisms, neurophysiology, and reactive oxygen and cytosolic calcium neuroimaging. Dr. Hay is a Professor of Physiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and maintains active participation in esteemed scientific organizations such as the American Physiological Society, the Society of Neuroscience, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She has also served on numerous editorial boards of prestigious scientific journals and grant review panels for the NIH and the National American Heart Association.

In her laboratory, Dr. Hay and her team are exploring fundamental questions related to the biophysical and cellular mechanisms underlying neurotransmitter modulation of sympathetic outflow and arterial blood pressure regulation. Her research program seeks to investigate the role of central neurotransmitter mechanisms in the normal regulation of cardiovascular function, the potential biophysical or molecular alterations of these mechanisms in the development of some forms of hypertension, and the prospect of modifying these central signal transduction systems to prevent or attenuate hypertension. She is also examining gender-related differences in some of these mechanisms.

Prior to joining the University of Arizona in 2008 as Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Hay served as the Vice President for Research for the University of Iowa, where she played a key role in expanding private and public support for research universities. Dr. Hay earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Colorado, Denver, her M.S. in neurobiology from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and her Ph.D. in cardiovascular pharmacology from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio. She completed her postdoctoral training in the Cardiovascular Center at the University of Iowa College of Medicine and in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Dr. Hay was also a tenured faculty member of the University of Missouri-Columbia from 1996-2005 and served as a faculty member in the Department of Physiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio.