Career Case Study - Dr Sara Keller, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford

I find Biomedical Engineering a really fun field to work in. It's a combination of a lot of different things, and because of that, I can wear a ton of different hats every day

Dr Sara Keller describes herself as a biomedical engineer dedicated to developing image-guided solutions to address critical healthcare challenges.

“I find Biomedical Engineering a really fun field to work in. It's a combination of a lot of different things, and because of that, I can wear a ton of different hats every day. So I can be a microbiologist, but also an ultrasound physicist and a programmer. And I can do all of these things at once and still work towards a goal that has global relevance and impact.”

Securing funding and winning awards

In 2023 Sara was awarded a Glasstone Research Fellowship, a three-year independent fellowship awarded to only two postdoctoral researchers in science at Oxford per academic year.

“Receiving my own funding for my research was really important to me because it has given me the independence to work on problems that I find important and interesting.”

It is incredibly important to showcase positive female role models for young women aspiring to pursue STEM careers

Further recognition came in 2024, when Sara received the L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Rising Talent Fellowship. This was for her work developing ultrasound molecular imaging probes for the rapid diagnosis of bacterial infections, with the aim of creating new tools for image-guided interventions. The L’Oréal-UNESCO initiative recognises exceptional early career women scientists in the UK and Ireland, which Sara is a passionate advocate for:

“It is incredibly important to showcase positive female role models for young women aspiring to pursue STEM careers, demonstrating that these paths are not only achievable but also accessible", she says. "The L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards play a key part in this, through promoting and providing flexible funding for women at critical junctures in their careers to pursue research in STEM fields, many of which are still male-dominated.”

I have been extremely fortunate to have such supportive supervisors and colleagues in my lab group throughout my postdoc.

In her acceptance of the award Sara was also keen to emphasise the support she has received at Oxford. Sara sees good collaborators and mentors as key to her success. “I have been extremely fortunate to have such supportive supervisors and colleagues in my lab group throughout my postdoc. I've told people that it's kind of weird how well our lab works and how nice everyone is. It's not typical, I think, in a lab environment this big.”

Building connections as a passionate outreach advocate

Sara is passionate about science communication and outreach and strives to advocate for greater female representation in STEM. It’s why she is such an active participant in Department-supported events such as Pint of Science, an annual worldwide science festival that brings world-class researchers to pubs and community spaces to share their work and scientific discoveries. Sara spoke at the 2024 Pint of Science event about her work using ultrasound and microbubbles as a novel antibiotic and discussed the implications of the increasing burden of AMR globally.

She sees engagement events like this as a fun way to communicate research and ideas with the public as well as providing researchers with forums to learn how to effectively communicate difficult concepts to a lay audience.

I think both Oxford and the lab have given me connections to work with. Getting to meet and work alongside researchers who are doing important and groundbreaking research is very cool

It is opportunities at Oxford such as this, and the quality of the people that she works with, that Sara is keen to emphasise. “I think both Oxford and the lab have given me connections to work with. Getting to meet and work alongside researchers who are doing important and groundbreaking research is very cool. That's maybe true of most top-tier universities, but I do think Oxford is special in that quite a large percentage of its faculty are very renowned in their field.”

Sara’s advice to early years researchers

• Think about the future and what your next steps are going to be. What are your goals? Even if the goals change, that’s OK!
• Find good collaborators and mentors.
• Find your own funding for research if possible.