Sophie Keeling

Clinical Neurosciences

Sophie completed a BSc in Biomedical Science at the University of Warwick before pursuing her passion for neuroscience through an MSc in Neuroscience at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich, Germany. Prior to joining Dr William McEwan’s group at the UK Dementia Research Institute in Cambridge as a PhD student, Sophie worked as an Analyst at the Cambridge-based medical consultancy, Costello Medical.

Sophie has recently completed her PhD in Clinical Neurosciences, focusing on dementia, a growing global health challenge with more than 100 million people predicted to be affected by 2050. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, devastates patients and families, while current treatments offer only limited ability to slow disease progression. AD is driven by the accumulation of tau protein within brain cells. Sophie’s research focuses on improving antibody-based therapies that target tau. Although these therapies are currently being tested in clinical trials, their benefits remain limited. By investigating the biological mechanisms underlying these treatments, Sophie identified a strategy that improves therapeutic effectiveness, reduces side effects, and significantly advances the translation of laboratory discoveries into meaningful clinical applications.

This collaborative and interdisciplinary research has been presented at international conferences and has resulted in a submitted first-author publication, a filed patent, and the Antibody Society Award 2025. Sophie is now the recipient of the 2026 CSAR PhD Student Award and plans to continue her translational research in the field of antibody biology and engineering.