Dr Julien Bensalem
School of Medicine
College of Health
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.
| 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 | Competency |
|---|---|
| English | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| French | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| 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 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Carosi, J. M., Martin, A., Hein, L. K., Hassiotis, S., Hattersley, K. J., Turner, B. J., . . . Sargeant, T. J. (2025). Autophagy across tissues of aging mice. PLoS ONE, 20(6), e0325505-1-e0325505-17. Scopus1 Europe PMC2 |
| 2025 | Singh, S., Fourrier, C., Hattersley, K. J., Hein, L. K., Gore, J., Martin, A., . . . Sargeant, T. J. (2025). High protein does not change autophagy in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells after one hour. JCI Insight, 10(16), e188845-1-e188845-3. |
| 2024 | Singh, S., Bensalem, J., Hein, L. K., Casey, A., Mäkinen, V. -P., & Sargeant, T. J. (2024). epHero - a tandem-fluorescent probe to track the fate of apoptotic cells during efferocytosis.. Cell Death Discov, 10(1), 179. WoS1 Europe PMC1 |
| 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 beta in a knock-in mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.. Journal of Nutrition, 153(5), 1407-1419. Scopus4 WoS2 Europe PMC4 |
| 2023 | 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. Scopus85 WoS74 Europe PMC62 |
| 2023 | 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. Scopus13 WoS12 Europe PMC12 |
| 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. Scopus50 WoS48 Europe PMC43 |
| 2022 | 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. Scopus11 WoS11 Europe PMC13 |
| 2022 | 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. Scopus21 WoS20 Europe PMC21 |
| 2022 | 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. Scopus8 WoS7 Europe PMC6 |
| 2022 | 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. Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1 |
| 2021 | Klionsky, D. J., Abdel Aziz, A. K., Abdelfatah, S., Abdellatif, M., Kumar, S., & Tong, C. K. (2021). Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition). Autophagy, 17(1), 1-382. Scopus2024 WoS1912 Europe PMC1919 |
| 2021 | 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, 108541. Scopus10 WoS9 Europe PMC11 |
| 2021 | 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. Scopus8 WoS8 Europe PMC10 |
| 2021 | 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. Scopus46 WoS42 Europe PMC44 |
| 2021 | Sargeant, T. J., & Bensalem, J. (2021). Human autophagy measurement: an underappreciated barrier to translation. Trends in Molecular Medicine, 27(12), 1091-1094. Scopus8 WoS8 Europe PMC9 |
| 2020 | 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. Scopus42 WoS43 Europe PMC47 |
| 2020 | Fourrier, C., Bryksin, V., Hattersley, K., Hein, L. K., Bensalem, J., & Sargeant, T. J. (2020). Comparison of chloroquine-like molecules for lysosomal inhibition and measurement of autophagic flux in the brain.. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 534, 107-113. Scopus8 WoS7 Europe PMC10 |
| 2019 | 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. Scopus97 WoS82 Europe PMC71 |
| 2018 | 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. Scopus65 WoS63 Europe PMC52 |
| 2018 | 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. Scopus72 WoS70 Europe PMC57 |
| 2016 | 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. Scopus13 WoS13 Europe PMC12 |
| 2016 | 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. Scopus40 WoS37 Europe PMC32 |
| 2015 | Bensalem, J., Dal-Pan, A., Gillard, E., Calon, F., & Pallet, V. (2015). Protective effects of berry polyphenols against age-related cognitive impairment. Nutrition and Aging, 3(2-4), 89-106. |
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