Dr Tim Sargeant started his career in neuroscience with a PhD at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Tim went on to two postdoctoral positions at the Department of Medicine and the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge (UK) where he researched the cell’s recycling machinery (called the lysosomal system) and obtained training in molecular and cell biology. Tim was appointed as Head of Lysosomal Health in Ageing in the Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology (formally the Lysosomal Diseases Research Unit) at SAHMRI in 2015. His current research focuses on the role of lysosomal recycling in common neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The lysosomal system is important for slowing cell ageing, as it removes damaged and unwanted material from the cell. This process is critically important for healthy brain function. Work from Lysosomal Health in Ageing has shown that this system is damaged in Alzheimer’s disease, and that changes in genes that are involved in the lysosomal system are associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Our current research focuses on development of methods for measurement of lysosomal system activity (through a process called autophagy) in humans. We are also developing interventions that improve the lysosomal system with the goal of delaying Alzheimer’s disease.

His vision is a future in which biological ageing can be monitored and modified, allowing more people to live longer, healthier lives free from major age-related diseases. Tim is working to create the tools needed to accurately measure and improve the cellular processes that determine how quickly we age. This will enable earlier detection of declining cellular health and support interventions that preserve function throughout life.