Associate Professor Tim Sargeant earned his PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 2008. He then undertook two postdoctoral roles at the University of Cambridge from 2008 until 2014. At Cambridge, his studies focussed on lysosomes, which are cellular structures that are essential for recycling damaged materials through a process known as autophagy.

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Since 2015, Tim has been at SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) in Adelaide, Australia where he studies the role of lysosomes in Alzheimer’s disease. His work has revealed key connections between lysosomal function and Alzheimer’s disease, particularly the importance of autophagy in clearing build up of a protein called tau, which is a hallmark of the disease.

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Recently, Tim’s focus has shifted to developing tools for measuring human autophagy, with the goal of advancing this research towards preventing age-related diseases.

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