Rate My Professor Darren Henstridge

Dr. Darren Henstridge earned his Bachelor of Science with Honours and PhD from Monash University. His doctoral thesis, titled 'Novel pathways stimulating glucose uptake in human skeletal muscle: therapeutic implications for type 2 diabetes,' was completed and preserved in Monash's Bridges repository. Following his PhD, he joined the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne as a Senior Research Officer in the Cellular and Molecular Metabolism Laboratory, advancing to Group Leader. The Baker IDI is closely affiliated with Monash University's Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct. He has served as an additional supervisor for PhD theses at Monash University, including one on skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunction and insulin resistance in 2023, and as a guest lecturer for the Department of Physiology at Monash.

Dr. Henstridge's research centers on metabolic physiology, particularly insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, obesity, mitochondrial function, and the protective roles of heat shock proteins like HSP72 in skeletal muscle. Key publications include 'HSP72 protects against obesity-induced insulin resistance' (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008; 676 citations), 'Hsp72 preserves muscle function and slows progression of severe muscular dystrophy' (Nature, 2012; 363 citations), 'Distinct patterns of tissue-specific lipid accumulation during the induction of insulin resistance in mice by high-fat feeding' (Diabetologia, 2013; 523 citations), and 'Ceramides contained in LDL are elevated in type 2 diabetes and promote inflammation and skeletal muscle insulin resistance' (Diabetes, 2013; 352 citations). In 2015, he received the AMREP Early-Mid Career Researcher Best Paper Award for 'Activating HSP72 in Rodent Skeletal Muscle Increases Mitochondrial Number and Oxidative Capacity and Decreases Plasma Lipids.' His work has elucidated mechanisms such as HDL modulation of glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetes and inflammation's promotion of fructose-stimulated de novo lipogenesis. Currently, Dr. Henstridge is Associate Head of Research and Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Tasmania, where he lectures in Exercise and Sports Science.