The Garrison Lab, led by Dr. Jennifer Garrison, was a research group housed at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging beginning in 2014. We studied cellular and circuit mechanisms of neuropeptide signaling (see below), with a focus on female physiology and aging. Dr. Garrison also founded and served as Executive Director of the Productive Health Global Consortium (aka Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality, GCRLE), and as Co-Director of the Center for Healthy Aging in Women at the Buck.
In June 2025, Dr. Garrison closed the lab to pursue new approaches for translating scientific discoveries into meaningful impact — work she continues today. We’re proud of what we built in the Garrison lab. This site preserves that work for anyone who wants to explore it, including the lab’s research, publications, and team.
Scientific Focus: Cellular and Circuit Mechanisms of Neuropeptide Signaling
The Garrison lab aimed to understand how inter-tissue communication, specifically that mediated by the long-range secreted signals called neuropeptides, influences physiology and aging. Neuropeptides transmit messages within the brain and across the nervous system to control vital physiologic processes like energy homeostasis and reproductive cycles, as well as motivational and emotional states including sleep, arousal, pain, stress, and mood. We developed new methods to monitor and manipulate neuropeptide signaling in living animals, and identified fundamental enzymes that regulate neuropeptide communication. We also elucidated the complex interactions between the ovary and brain during middle-age and to identify the neuronal factors that lead to the onset of reproductive decline in females. Our work employed advanced imaging, genetic, and biochemical approaches to investigate these questions using both worm and mouse model systems. Our goal was to discover how age-related changes in neuropeptide signaling systems in the brain can influence whole organism healthspan and longevity, and to discover strategies to prevent or delay ovarian aging.
Neuropeptide Signaling
We explored neuropeptide signaling in time and space to uncover mechanisms that govern flexibility in the nervous system.