Dr. Granholm received her Ph.D in 1984 from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, on effects of hormones on the brain. From 1985-88 she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Colorado in Denver, where she also returned as a Professor in 1991 after a short period as an Associate Professor in Linkoping, Sweden. In 2000,Dr. Granholm was recruited to MUSC and was appointed Director for the Center on Aging in 2001. She has more than 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals.She co-founded the state-wide aging research network SCARN (South Carolina Aging Research Network).She is the founding director of the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Neuropathology Laboratory at MUSC, which is a research and diagnostics laboratory accepting brain donations as part of their mission since 2010. Dr. Granholm received her Ph.D in 1984 from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, on effects of hormones on the brain. From 1985-88 she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Colorado in Denver, where she also returned as a Professor in 1991 after a short period as an Associate Professor in Linkoping, Sweden. In 2000,Dr. Granholm was recruited to MUSC and was appointed Director for the Center on Aging in 2001. She has more than 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals.She co-founded the state-wide aging research network SCARN (South Carolina Aging Research Network).She is the founding director of the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Neuropathology Laboratory at MUSC, which is a research and diagnostics laboratory accepting brain donations as part of their mission since 2010.

she focus in her laboratory on neuroplasticity, both during early development and aging. In particular, they are studying factors that influence development and aging in neurons, such as neurotrophic factors.  she had primarily focused on trophic factor influence on cholinergic, adrenergic, and dopaminergic pathways in the brain and the neurotrophic factors NGF and GDNF. They are using transplantation of fetal brain tissue and stem cells intracranially and into the anterior chamber of the eye as a means to study connectivity, and also as replacement therapy. More recently, they have also started working on estrogen/testosterone replacement therapy, as well as dietary supplementation with antioxidants and low-cholesterol diets.  The overall goal of the laboratory is to develop treatment strategies for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease by using growth factors, hormone replacement, or dietary prevention therapies. They are using a systems approach, studying memory and movement behaviors, and correlating these behavioral data with biochemical and structural correlates in the brain. Recently, They have incorporated a translational research approach, with ongoing studies together with clinical laboratories around their campus and at other aging centers.