Jenny Clarkson wins Hubbard Prize 2007

30 November 2007

Jenny Clarkson, winner of the 2007 Hubbard Prize has completed her PhD and recently left for the US to take up a postdoctoral fellowship. She writes about the path she took to her doctoral studies.

Jenny Clarkson, winner of the 2007 Hubbard Prize has completed her PhD and recently left for the US to take up a postdoctoral fellowship. She writes:

"I had a circuitous pathway into neuroscience and PhD study. I completed Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Physical Education at the University of Otago. During the later part of my undergraduate degree I became very interested in the biological basis of neural disorders. After completing a MPhEd, I moved to the Department of Physiology to take a one-year Assistant Research Fellow position investigating mitochondrial bioenergetics in neonates. During this time I explored options for PhD study and became aware of and interested in the work that was being conducted in the Herbison Laboratory. After seeing work from the Herbison Lab presented at the Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research I approached Allan about beginning PhD study with him.

My PhD work focused on a novel neuropeptide called kisspeptin, and its role in the neuroendocrine control of reproduction. My investigations were centered on determining the role of kisspeptin in the initiation of puberty and the neural control of the reproductive cycle and ovulation in females. The results of my work and of that conducted by others demonstrates that kisspeptin plays crucial roles in the neural control or puberty in males and females and is critical for the neural control of cyclicity in females.

My immediate future is working as a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA with Dr Paul Micevych investigating the mechanisms of estrogen signaling in the nervous system. In the long-term I hope to return to New Zealand to continue a career in neuroscience research after gaining some experience overseas."