Professor Sophie Hambleton is an Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Newcastle’s Great North Children’s Hospital with a particular focus on inborn errors of the immune system, especially those that cause susceptibility to viruses.
She is also a Professor in Paediatrics and Immunology at Newcastle University.
She has been a Consultant on the immunology and infectious diseases team at the Great North Children’s Hospital since 2008 and leads a research team at Newcastle University working to discover the genetic causes of immunodeficiency – she is passionately committed to making research work for all young patients.
Professor Hambleton is active within the primary immunodeficiency community both nationally and internationally, and was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020.
She is dual-trained in clinical paediatric immunology and laboratory science and specialises in investigating and managing children with complex disorders of the immune system.
Sophie leads the Genomics England Clinical Interpretation Partnership for Immune Disorders. She also acts as an assessor for the national quality improvement programme for primary immunodeficiency services, QPIDS.
Research
Professor Hambleton’s research is all about what children with inborn errors of immunity can teach us about the normal immune system, and how that knowledge can help us look after patients better.
Her work is aimed at understanding the cellular and molecular basis of novel primary immunodeficiencies, and how this informs our knowledge of the normal immune system.
Sophie’s research, based at Newcastle University, arises directly from her ongoing active part in looking after patients at the Great North Children’s Hospital where she has been a consultant since 2008.
By focusing on the underlying basis of inherited immunodeficiency, Sophie’s work supports early diagnosis and targeted treatments, leading to improved patient outcomes. It has also shed light on the roles of individual genes and pathways in human immunity.
You can find out more about Professor Hambleton’s research work on Newcastle University’s website:
