Neha Agrawal

Metabolic organ development and dysfunction.

Neha Agrawal is a group leader and lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences. Neha carried out my postdoctoral research in Professor Andrea Brand’s lab at the University of Cambridge, where she investigated the genetic basis of obesity in collaboration with Professor Sadaf Farooqi at the Institute of Metabolic Sciences. She is a former Cambridge Borysiewicz Fellow and was a Bye-Fellow with Murray Edwards College. Prior to this, Neha was a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Pierre Leopold’s lab in France, where she examined the role of inter-organ communication in the nutritional regulation of growth. Her doctoral research, at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, India in Professor Gaiti Hasan’s group, explored how neuronal calcium signalling impacts behaviour. 

portrait photo of Neha Agrawal
Neha Agrawal

Neha holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning from the University of Cambridge and she is an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Devika Radhakrishnan (PhD student)

Luna Walravens (PhD student)

Payel Biswas (PhD student)

Poonam Dhiman (PhD student)


Metabolic diseases pose a major challenge to global health. Key metabolic organs such as the liver and adipose are essential for maintaining physiological balance, undergoing dynamic morphological and functional remodelling during development and in response to metabolic changes. Gaining deeper insights into the development and dysfunction of these organs is thus crucial for tackling conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. 

To address this, we leverage the versatile genetic model Drosophila melanogaster, which provides a robust platform for in vivo studies of liver and adipose function and inter-organ communication at both cellular and systemic levels. Using advanced in vivo approaches, combining precise, real-time live imaging with genetic manipulation, we investigate mechanisms regulating growth, remodelling, and cell death in these metabolic organs. Our interdisciplinary research bridges fundamental biology and human pathophysiology by generating Drosophila disease models. By integrating organ-level, whole-body, and disease-based analyses, we aim to uncover fundamental mechanisms regulating metabolic organ development and function and their impact on health and disease.


Colour image of adipose tissue in fruit fly
Adipose tissue in Drosophila: Adipose tissue in a Drosophila adult expressing GFP (green); Muscles and nuclei labelled in yellow and red, respectively.


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