Expert Profiles

Sophie Morse, PhD

Key Points

  • Dr. Morse is a research fellow at Imperial College London who specializes in using focused ultrasound for immunomodulation. 
  • Learn how her growing laboratory is using the technology to tackle neurodegenerative diseases and brain tumors.

Sophie Morse, PhD, is a research fellow at Imperial College London who specializes in using focused ultrasound for immunomodulation for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and brain tumors. She launched her research laboratory just two years ago and has already established an impressive team. We spoke with Dr. Morse about her background, research goals, and what she sees for the future of this technology.  

How did you get interested in focused ultrasound? 
The first time I was exposed to focused ultrasound was when I was choosing my PhD program. I was considering options at three different universities when I learned about a laboratory that was using ultrasound for therapy in a collaborative project between King’s College and Imperial. I couldn’t quite believe it. I had never heard of noninvasive ultrasound therapy before, and I got so excited by this being a possibility. After that, it was a done deal; I didn’t even consider the other options.  

Tell us about that project. 
It involved using ultrasound and microbubbles to disrupt the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and deliver drugs to the brain. I conducted in vivo work in Dr. James Choi’s lab at Imperial. The fact that this technique could be applied to so many diseases was exciting. 

What are your current areas of research?  
I now lead my own research group at Imperial, and we are using focused ultrasound to modulate the immune system – both in the brain and throughout the body. We’re particularly interested in modulating the innate immune cells of the brain, because these cells are often dysregulated in many different disorders. If we can modulate these cells to achieve an increased or decreased effect (i.e., try and get them back to their original state), then we could develop a powerful strategy for treating many different diseases.  

My team is exploring two mechanisms using focused ultrasound to attack neurological diseases. The first is employing ultrasound alone to modulate cellular activity. The second is by using focused ultrasound and microbubbles to disrupt the BBB to increase the number of peripheral immune cells that can enter the brain to help tackle the disease alongside increasing drug delivery, while potentially also modulating immune cell activity. 

What diseases are you currently studying? 
My group is divided into three parallel teams: 

  1. Team One is using the technology to treat neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. Beyond treatment, we are interested in the potential of using focused ultrasound to delay the onset of the disease.  
  1. Team Two is concerned with discovering different ways to delay the cognitive decline that comes with aging.  
  1. Team Three is tackling brain tumors, such as glioblastoma (also called GBM) and pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (also called DIPG). 

Who are your funding sources? 
I received a crucial Springboard Award from the Academy of Medical Sciences. I have also received funding from the Royal Society, the UK Dementia Research Institute, Alzheimer’s Research UK, and the NeuroMod Network funded by the Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council (a division of UK Research and Innovation). My own position is funded by an Imperial College Research Fellowship, and I’ve had summer students funded by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s Global Internship Program.  

How many people are in your laboratory? 
I currently have 18 people in my lab: four PhD students, two research assistants, ten master’s students, and two undergraduates.  

Who are your collaborators? 
I have a number of colleagues with whom I work closely at Imperial, including: 

Outside of Imperial, I work with: 

  • Francois Guillemot, PhD, at the Francis Crick Institute, studies neurogenesis. We are investigating how ultrasound affects the generation of new neurons.  
  • David Bannerman, PhD, at Oxford University, a behavioral testing expert.  

Beyond the UK, I collaborate with teams at the Polytechnic of Milan, the Biorobotics Institute at the Sant’Ana School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, the Instituto Cajal in Madrid, and Technical University of Munich. 

How have you been able to make so many contacts early in your career? 
There are several ways, but most have been through my involvement in programs like the European Talent Academy, which introduced me to other early career researchers in Europe. I’ve also been directly reaching out to people who have expertise that I lack to work on collaborative grants so that we can carry out exciting research together. Networking at conferences has also been crucial.  

What have been your greatest achievements?  
I am very proud of my team. I have gathered an amazing group of medical doctors, physicists, engineers, biologists, and biochemists – just so much variety. They work really well in groups, but also independently, and they are incredibly enthusiastic. They have also achieved many successes. Three of my students have won best poster awards at conferences this year plus multiple travel awards. Most recently, my master’s student, Vanessa Drevenakova, received the best poster award at the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound conference in Taipei.  

In terms of personal achievements other than building this group, I have received more than 20 research awards, which have garnered exposure for my work. People – even outside of the ultrasound field – are learning about the potential for this technology. Recently, I’ve received recognition on the list of Top 50 Women in Engineering in the UK and the Women of the Future Award. It becomes a rolling of a ball where I’m excited, my students are excited, and then other people get excited. 

Any disappointments? 
There haven’t been any major disappointments, but it has been a challenging two years on a personal level. It is quite challenging to start your own lab, and everything moves slowly at the beginning. Writing grants, building a team, and creating research output, alongside so many other things, is difficult. And it’s also a challenge to maintain a life outside of work and not lose oneself.  

What is on your research wish list? 
Two things come to mind. I have a large team, but they are relatively early career researchers. I don’t have any research managers or postdoctoral researchers, which require larger salaries.  

The other thing is the competition for resources and equipment. Being able to have equipment in different locations would be amazing. One of the major limitations to new projects and ideas is that the equipment is cost-prohibitive or is not available in the right places.  

Has the Foundation played a role in your work in other ways? 
I’ve had three Global Interns that have been supported by the Foundation over the past two years. It’s been amazing because they have gotten follow-on funding, so they feel excited and like they are part of a bigger vision.  

Also, now with the UK Focused Ultrasound Foundation, we have a base of support here. We’ve had lots of discussions with charities and funding sources to provide co-funding with the UK Foundation, and I’m excited about what that will lead to.  

What is next? 
We are collecting some exciting initial data, so the next step will be applying our discoveries to different disease models and seeing how – and at what stage of the disease – the technology works best. 

Aside from that, I always feel like the next step is to encourage more and more people to get involved. And I don’t just mean university students, but also students in high school and primary school. The future of the technology is always on my mind.