Impact
Julie Andersen is a professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging whose laboratory studies the age-related processes that drive neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Her group's premise is that ageing, the major shared risk factor, offers a common target, and it works to identify therapeutics that slow or prevent these conditions. Current work includes small molecules that enhance autophagy, the cell's clearance of damaged proteins and components, and approaches to remove senescent cells that can damage neighbouring tissue, tested in human induced pluripotent stem cells, C. elegans and mice in collaboration with other Buck laboratories. She trained at UCLA and Massachusetts General Hospital and held a faculty position at the USC School of Gerontology before joining the Buck. According to her Buck biography she has published more than 170 papers, holds three patents, and has received a Parkinson's Pioneer Award from the National Parkinson's Foundation, a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging and an Ellison Medical Foundation senior scholarship. She has also worked with biotech companies and medical foundations, including Roche and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Metrics
- h-index 71 · google scholar as of 2026-09-23 source ↗
Research output
238 works · 16,218 citations · h-index 63 OpenAlex ↗
Selected publications
- Oxidative stress in neurodegeneration: cause or consequence? ↗ 2004 · 1,880 citations
- Mice Deficient in Cellular Glutathione Peroxidase Show Increased Vulnerability to Malonate, 3-Nitropropionic Acid, and 1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,5,6-Tetrahydropyridine ↗ 2000 · 1,115 citations
- Genetic or Pharmacological Iron Chelation Prevents MPTP-Induced Neurotoxicity In Vivo ↗ 2003 · 625 citations
- Cellular Senescence Is Induced by the Environmental Neurotoxin Paraquat and Contributes to Neuropathology Linked to Parkinson’s Disease ↗ 2018 · 550 citations
- Mitochondrial alpha-synuclein accumulation impairs complex I function in dopaminergic neurons and results in increased mitophagy in vivo ↗ 2010 · 457 citations
Research funding
47 NIH awards · USD 33M total NIH RePORTER ↗
- New mechanistic insights into how the gut metabolite urolithin A extends lifespan and prevents AD National Institute on Aging · 2018 · USD 3M
- A temporal bioenergetic, metabolomics, and proteomic map of Alzheimer's disease in invertebrate models National Institute on Aging · 2017 · USD 3M
- Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Aging and Disease National Institute on Aging · 2010 · USD 2M
- Cellular senescence and Alzheimer's disease National Institute on Aging · 2020 · USD 2M
- Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Aging and Disease National Institute on Aging · 2011 · USD 2M