Julien Bensalem
Adelaide Medical School
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Dr Julien Bensalem is a post-doctoral researcher in the Lysosomal Health in Ageing group, Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology, Lifelong Health Theme, at SAHMRI and an affiliate senior lecturer with the Adelaide Medical School at the University of Adelaide.
Dr Julien Bensalem completed his PhD specialised in Nutrition in 2014 at the University of Bordeaux, France, studying the effect of polyphenols on the age-related cognitive decline.
Following his PhD, he worked as research project manager in a French company developing new nutritional plant extracts for different health applications, while pursuing his research on nutrition and cognition as a postdoc in the Laboratory of Nutrition and Integrative Neuroscience in Bordeaux, France.
Dr Bensalem joined the Lysosomal Health in Ageing, Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology at SAHMRI, Australia, in 2018 as a post-doctoral researcher under Dr Tim Sargeant supervision. In his current role he investigates how nutrition can be used to tackle dementia by improving autophagy, and how autophagy is involved in other age-related diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for 60-70% of the 50 million cases of dementia around the world. Although billions of dollars have been spent on developing therapies, there is still no treatment available.
Alzheimer’s disease leads to the progressive formation and spread of abnormal and toxic material in the brain, which impairs its function and causes dementia. Our group has found that autophagy, our cell's "self-cleaning" system, can destroy this toxic material and that we can up-regulate autophagy in preclinical models using drugs or restricting certain nutrients in the diet.
As part of my research, I have developed the first blood test to measure autophagic activity in humans. This is an important step forward to translate our preclinical knowledge about autophagy to the clinic. I am currently studying how autophagy responds to nutritional interventions in humans and how autophagy behaves in relation to age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease. I also use laboratory models to determine how autophagy changes in the brain in response to nutrition and age- and obesity-related damage.
My overarching research aim is to develop new treatment strategies that protect autophagy cleaning ability in the brain of people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2022 - ongoing Affiliate Senior Lecturer University of Adelaide 2018 - ongoing Postdoctoral Researcher South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute 2015 - 2017 Affiliate postdoctoral researcher Nutrition and Integrative Neurobiology (NutriNeurO) 2015 - 2017 Research project Manager Activ'Inside 2011 - 2014 PhD candidate University of Bordeaux -
Language Competencies
Language Competency English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review French Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2011 - 2014 University of Bordeaux France PhD 2009 - 2010 Paul Sabatier University France Masters 2008 - 2009 University of Bordeaux France Bachelors (Honours) 2005 - 2008 University of Bordeaux France Bachelors of Science -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2023 Bensalem, J., Hein, L. K., Hassiotis, S., Trim, P. J., Proud, C. G., Heilbronn, L. K., & Sargeant, T. J. (2023). Modifying Dietary Protein Impacts mTOR Signaling and Brain Deposition of Amyloid β in a Knock-In Mouse Model of Alzheimer Disease. Journal of Nutrition, 153(5), 1407-1419.
Scopus12023 Teong, X. T., Liu, K., Vincent, A. D., Bensalem, J., Liu, B., Hattersley, K. J., . . . Heilbronn, L. K. (2023). Intermittent fasting plus early time-restricted eating versus calorie restriction and standard care in adults at risk of type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Nature Medicine, 29(4), 963-972.
Scopus20 WoS8 Europe PMC92023 Bensalem, J., Teong, X. T., Hattersley, K. J., Hein, L. K., Fourrier, C., Liu, K., . . . Sargeant, T. J. (2023). Basal autophagic flux measured in blood correlates positively with age in adults at increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Geroscience, 45(6), 3549-3560.
Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC12022 Vidanapathirana, A. K., Goyne, J. M., Williamson, A. E., Pullen, B. J., Chhay, P., Sandeman, L., . . . Bursill, C. A. (2022). Biological Sensing of Nitric Oxide in Macrophages and Atherosclerosis Using a Ruthenium-Based Sensor. Biomedicines, 10(8), 1807.
Scopus4 WoS2 Europe PMC12022 Bensalem, J., Heilbronn, L. K., Gore, J. R., Hutchison, A. T., Sargeant, T. J., & Fourrier, C. (2022). The Break-Fast study protocol: a single arm pre-post study to measure the effect of a protein-rich breakfast on autophagic flux in fasting healthy individuals. BMC Nutrition, 8(1), 120-1-120-7.
2022 Carosi, J. M., Fourrier, C., Bensalem, J., & Sargeant, T. J. (2022). The mTOR–lysosome axis at the centre of ageing. FEBS Open Bio, 12(4), 739-757.
Scopus30 WoS19 Europe PMC162022 Whyte, L. S., Fourrier, C., Hassiotis, S., Lau, A. A., Trim, P. J., Hein, L. K., . . . Sargeant, T. J. (2022). Lysosomal gene Hexb displays haploinsufficiency in a knock-in mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. IBRO Neuroscience Reports, 12, 131-141.
Scopus8 WoS6 Europe PMC72022 Chaudhary, R., Liu, B., Bensalem, J., Sargeant, T. J., Page, A. J., Wittert, G. A., . . . Heilbronn, L. K. (2022). Intermittent fasting activates markers of autophagy in mouse liver, but not muscle from mouse or humans. Nutrition, 101, 1-7.
Scopus5 WoS2 Europe PMC42021 Fourrier, C., Bryksin, V., Hattersley, K., Hein, L. K., Bensalem, J., & Sargeant, T. J. (2021). Comparison of chloroquine-like molecules for lysosomal inhibition and measurement of autophagic flux in the brain. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 534, 107-113.
Scopus5 WoS3 Europe PMC32021 Klionsky, D. J., Abdel-Aziz, A. K., Abdelfatah, S., Abdellatif, M., Abdoli, A., Abel, S., . . . Aurelian, L. (2021). Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)<sup>1</sup>. Autophagy, 17(1), 1-382.
Scopus1303 WoS810 Europe PMC9472021 Bensalem, J., Fourrier, C., Hein, L. K., Hassiotis, S., Proud, C. G., & Sargeant, T. J. (2021). Inhibiting mTOR activity using AZD2014 increases autophagy in the mouse cerebral cortex. Neuropharmacology, 190, 15 pages.
Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC22021 Hattersley, K. J., Carosi, J. M., Hein, L. K., Bensalem, J., & Sargeant, T. J. (2021). PICALM regulates cathepsin D processing and lysosomal function. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 570, 103-109.
Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC22021 Lynn, M. A., Eden, G., Ryan, F. J., Bensalem, J., Wang, X., Blake, S. J., . . . Lynn, D. J. (2021). The composition of the gut microbiota following early-life antibiotic exposure affects host health and longevity in later life. Cell Reports, 36(8), 20 pages.
Scopus29 WoS18 Europe PMC192021 Sargeant, T. J., & Bensalem, J. (2021). Human autophagy measurement: an underappreciated barrier to translation. Trends in Molecular Medicine, 27(12), 1091-1094.
Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC42020 Bensalem, J., Hattersley, K. J., Hein, L. K., Tong Teong, X., Carosi, J. M., Hassiotis, S., . . . Sargeant, T. J. (2020). Measurement of autophagic flux in humans: an optimized method for blood samples.. Autophagy, 17(10), 3238-3255.
Scopus19 WoS18 Europe PMC152019 Bensalem, J., Dudonné, S., Etchamendy, N., Pellay, H., Amadieu, C., Gaudout, D., . . . Pallet, V. (2019). Polyphenols from Grape and Blueberry Improve Episodic Memory in Healthy Elderly with Lower Level of Memory Performance: A Bicentric Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Study. Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 74(7), 996-1007.
Scopus61 WoS52 Europe PMC362018 Lefèvre-Arbogast, S., Gaudout, D., Bensalem, J., Letenneur, L., Dartigues, J. F., Hejblum, B. P., . . . Samieri, C. (2018). Pattern of polyphenol intake and the long-term risk of dementia in older persons. Neurology, 90(22), e1979-e1988.
Scopus48 WoS43 Europe PMC252018 Bensalem, J., Dudonné, S., Gaudout, D., Servant, L., Calon, F., Desjardins, Y., . . . Pallet, V. (2018). Polyphenol-rich extract from grape and blueberry attenuates cognitive decline and improves neuronal function in aged mice. Journal of Nutritional Science, 7, 10 pages.
Scopus55 WoS54 Europe PMC372016 Martineau, A. S., Leray, V., Lepoudere, A., Blanchard, G., Bensalem, J., Gaudout, D., . . . Nguyen, P. (2016). A mixed grape and blueberry extract is safe for dogs to consume. BMC Veterinary Research, 12(1), 10 pages.
Scopus10 WoS9 Europe PMC82016 Bensalem, J., Servant, L., Alfos, S., Gaudout, D., Layé, S., Pallet, V., & Lafenetre, P. (2016). Dietary polyphenol supplementation prevents alterations of spatial navigation in middle-aged mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 10(FEB), 16 pages.
Scopus28 WoS24 Europe PMC212016 Bensalem, J., Dal-Pan, A., Gillard, E., Calon, F., & Pallet, V. (2016). Protective effects of berry polyphenols against age-related cognitive impairment. Nutrition and Aging, 3(2-4), 89-106.
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