We’re proud to welcome Jennifer Garrison, Ph.D. to our Faculty in 2025. Garrison serves as Co-Director of the Center for Healthy Aging in Women at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and Co-Founder and Executive Director of ProductiveHealth.org, the Center’s global arm. She is a leading researcher and voice on one of our core pillars this year: putting women at the center of the healthcare conversation.
Garrison also runs the Garrison Lab, which is focused on the mind-body connection and female aging, including how age-related changes in the conversation between the brain and ovaries contributes to systemic aging in women. Specifically, her lab studies how neuropeptide signaling, “a diverse class of neuromodulators that that neurons use to communicate with each other and regulate behavior” contribute to aging. Her lab is looking at the changes or disruptions to neuropeptide signaling that occur during the aging process — and searching for approaches that could “prevent or delay ovarian aging.”
In a recent video, Garrison refers to the ovaries as “the architects of health in female bodies,” and thinks that focusing on them, and understanding how they work and age, is critical for everyone — whether or not you have or have had ovaries.
The goal of research in this area is not about just fertility or menopause, but rather to “maintain endocrine function and signaling networks to stave off what happens when ovaries do not function properly,” she says. Across a woman’s entire lifespan, ovarian health is critical for overall health.
A prolific researcher and scientist, Garrison also holds several other notable roles:
Director of the Biology of Aging Advanced Research Training Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL)
Adjunct Assistant Professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4Li)
Member of the Medical Advisory Council for the National Menopause Foundation (NMF)
Dr. Garrison joins a growing list of esteemed scientists on the DOC 2025 Faculty. Welcome to the DOC community, Jennifer!