Rate My Professor Jenny Clarkson

Clarkson's research interests center on the neural mechanisms controlling fertility across the lifespan, with a focus on kisspeptin neurons coordinating reproductive hormone secretion, thermoregulation, and menopausal hot flushes. She leads projects investigating the neurobiology of hot flushes and the connection between hot flushes and sleep disruption, using advanced techniques including fibre photometry, optogenetics, and chemogenetics to monitor and manipulate neuron activity in vivo while measuring physiological variables. Key publications include "Definition of the hypothalamic GnRH pulse generator in mice" (PNAS, 2017), "Definition of the estrogen negative feedback pathway controlling the GnRH pulse generator in female mice" (Nature Communications, 2022), "Kisspeptin–GPR54 signaling is essential for preovulatory gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuron activation and the luteinizing hormone surge" (Journal of Neuroscience, 2008), "Dependence of fertility on kisspeptin–Gpr54 signalling at the GnRH neuron" (Nature Communications, 2013), "Postnatal development of kisspeptin neurons in mouse hypothalamus; sexual dimorphism and projections to gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons" (Endocrinology, 2006), and "Sexual differentiation of the brain requires perinatal kisspeptin-GnRH neuron signaling" (Journal of Neuroscience, 2014). She has secured major funding, including a Marsden Fund grant for "A Neural Circuit Linking Menopausal Hot Flushes and Awakening" and a Neurological Foundation project grant with Dr. Rosemary Brown. Clarkson's work has had substantial impact on neuroendocrinology, elucidating critical pathways in puberty, ovulation, and menopause.