About
Dr. Sophie Sokolow is an Associate Professor at the UCLA School of Nursing with a multidisciplinary background in pharmacology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and statistical genetics. For nearly two decades, her research on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has centered on two main areas: 1) the molecular pathogenesis of AD in surviving nerve terminals, and 2) the influence of genetic factors on therapeutic response in AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Her latest study focused on identifying genetic polymorphisms that affect the efficacy of AD medications, including donepezil and other acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.
More recently, Dr. Sokolow has expanded her research to explore the intersection of physical activity and digital health. She is currently leading a pilot study on the health benefits of pickleball, using wearable and app-based tracking to assess its impact on sleep, stress, energy, mood, and overall well-being. A certified PPR pickleball coach, USA Pickleball ambassador, and competitive player, Dr. Sokolow has built strong ties within the pickleball community both locally and nationally—facilitating participant recruitment and broader community engagement. Her work in this emerging field reflects a deep commitment to holistic health promotion and digital innovation.
Areas of Scholarly Expertise and Interest
Alzheimer’s disease, neuroscience, genetics, pharmacogenomics, pharmacology and therapeutics, biomarkers, calcium signaling pathways, digital health, physical activity, and well-being
Faculty Research and Clinical Expertise
Research: Alzheimer’s disease, neuroscience, genetics, pharmacogenomics, biomarkers, calcium signaling pathways, digital health interventions, physical activity, pickleball and well-being
Clinical: Clinical pharmacy, pharmacovigilance, pharmacogenomics, community-based wellness
Professional Activities
1994-2004: Member, National Board of Pharmacy, Belgium
1997-2004: Consultant, Belgian Ministry of Public Health, Center of Drug Monitoring, Brussels, Belgium
2003: Member, Biophysical Society
2004: Remote reviewer, Journal of Clinical Investigation
2004: Remote reviewer, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
2005: International Doping Control Officer, International Doping Tests & Management (IDTM)
2007: Member, Society for Neuroscience (SfN)
2009: Member, Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer Research and Treatment (ISTAART)
2009: Member, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN)
2009: Alzheimer's association peer reviewer
2013: Member, UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute
2014: Member, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute
Education
University of Mons-Hainaut, Mons, Belgium, BSc, 1991, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Free University of Brussels, Belgium, MSc, 1994, Pharmacy
Free University of Brussels, Belgium, MSc, 2003, Health Sciences - Pharmaceutical Sciences
Free University of Brussels, Belgium, PhD, 2004, Biomedical Sciences
Honors and Awards
1991: Awarded as the most Promising Student in the B. Sc. Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Mons-Hainaut, Belgium
1994: Upjohn Award for the Most Promising Student in the M. Sc. program of Pharmacy degree, Free University of Brussels, School of Pharmacy, Belgium
1997: Doctorate Fellowship in recognition of the undergraduate outstanding merit, Free University of Brussels, Research committee, Belgium
2003: Fellowship award, International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN), San Francisco, CA, USA
2009: Travel award, Alzheimer's Association, International Conference on Alzheimer's disease, Vienna, Austria
2011: Travel award, Alzheimer's Association, International Conference on Alzheimer's disease, Paris, France
2013: Turken Researcher Award, Mary Easton’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at UCLA, Neurology Department, David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Publications
Prior to Academic Appointment (ccorresponding author; *original research article; # working group collaborator):
*F. Rogister, D. Laeckman, PO. Plasman, F. Van Eylen, M. Ghyoot, C. Maggetto, S. Sokolow, J-F. Liegeois, J. Geczy, B Masereel, J. Delarge and A. Herchuelz. Novel inhibitors of the sodium-calcium exchanger: benzene ring analogues of N-guanidino substitued amiloride derivatives. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2001, 36 (7-8), 597-614.
*M. Philippeau, M. Manto, S. Sokolow, M. A. Laute J. P Brion, M. Pandolfo and R. Pochet Recent advances in transgenic models of ALS - Electrophysiological, morphological and neurochemical characterization of hSOD-1 G93A transgenic rats. Rec Res Devel Physiol. 2005; 3:13-31.
c*S. Sokolow, M. Manto, P. Gailly, J. Molgo, C. Vandebrouck, J. M. Vanderwinden, A. Herchuelz, S. Schurmans. Impaired neuromuscular transmission and skeletal muscle fiber necrosis in mice lacking Na/Ca exchanger 3. J Clin Invest. 2004;113(2):265-73. doi: 10.1172/JCI18688. PubMed PMID: 14722618; PubMed [310749].
Since Academic Appointment (ccorresponding author; *original research article, §review article, # Joint first authors - Authors contributed equally to the investigation):
*G. J. Jeffs, B. P. Meloni, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz, S. Schurmans, N. W. Knuckey. NCX3 knockout mice exhibit increased hippocampal CA1 and CA2 neuronal damage compared to wild-type mice following global cerebral ischemia. Exp Neurol. 210 (2008) 268-73. [18054916]
*P. Molinaro, O. Cuomo, G. Pignataro, F. Boscia, R. Sirabella, A. Pannaccione, A. Secondo, A. Scorziello, A. Adornetto, R. Gala, D. Viggiano, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz, S. Schurmans, G. Di Renzo, L. Annunziato. Targeted disruption of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger 3 (NCX3) gene leads to a worsening of ischemic brain damage. J Neurosci. 2008;28(5):1179-84. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4671-07.2008. PubMed PMID: 18234895.
*M. Wehling-Henricks#, S. Sokolow#, J. J. Lee, K. H. Myung, S. A. Villalta, J. G. Tidball. Major basic protein-1 promotes fibrosis of dystrophic muscle and attenuates the cellular immune response in muscular dystrophy. Hum Mol Genet. 2008;17(15):2280-92. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddn129. PubMed PMID: 18430716; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2574717. #Joint first authors who contributed equally to the investigation.
*J. A. Fein, S. Sokolow, C. A. Miller, H. V. Vinters, F. Yang, G. M. Cole, K. H. Gylys. Co-localization of amyloid beta and tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease synaptosomes. Am. J. Pathol. 2008;172(6):1683-92. doi: 10.2353/ajpath.2008.070829. PubMed PMID: 18467692; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2408427.
*J. M. Ringman, S. G. Younkin, D. Pratico, W. Seltzer, G. M. Cole, D. H. Geschwind, Y. Rodriguez-Agudelo, B. Schaffer, J. Fein, S. Sokolow, E. R. Rosario, K. H. Gylys, A. Varpetian, L. D. Medina, J. L. Cummings. Biochemical markers in persons with preclinical familial Alzheimer disease. Neurology. 2008;71(2):85-92. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000303973.71803.81. PubMed PMID: 18509095.
*J. L. Cross, B. P. Meloni, A. Bakker, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz, S. Schurmans, N. W. Knuckey. Neuronal injury in NCX3 knockout mice following permanent focal cerebral ischemia and in NCX3 knockout cortical neuronal cultures following oxygen-glucose deprivation and glutamate exposure. J. Exp. Stroke Transl. Med. 2009;2(1):3-9. http://www.aestm.com/neuronal-injury-in-ncx3-knockout-mice-following-permanent-focal-cerebral-ischemia-and-in-ncx3-knockout-cortical-neuronal-cultures-following-oxygen-glucose-deprivation-and-glutamate-exposure-abstra/
*N. A. Verwey, W. M. van der Flier, K. Blennow, C. Clark, S. Sokolow, P. P. De Deyn, D. Galasko, H. Hampel, T. Hartmann, E. Kapaki, L. Lannfelt, P. D. Mehta, L. Parnetti, A. Petzold, T. Pirttila, L. Saleh, A. Skinningsrud, J. C. Swieten, M. M. Verbeek, J. Wiltfang, S. Younkin, P. Scheltens, M. A. Blankenstein. A worldwide multicentre comparison of assays for cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease. Ann Clin Biochem. 2009;46(Pt 3):235-40. doi: 10.1258/acb.2009.008232. PubMed PMID: 19342441.
c*S. Sokolow, S. H. Luu, A. J. Headley, A. Y. Hanson, T. Kim, C. A. Miller, H. V. Vinters, K. H. Gylys. High levels of synaptosomal Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchangers (NCX1, NCX2, NCX3) co-localized with amyloid-beta in human cerebral cortex affected by Alzheimer's disease. Cell calcium. 2011;49(4):208-16. doi: 10.1016/j.ceca.2010.12.008. PubMed PMID: 21382638; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3084347.
*P. Molinaro, D. Viggiano, R. Nistico, R. Sirabella, A. Secondo, F. Boscia, A. Pannaccione, A. Scorziello, B. Mehdawy, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz, G. F. Di Renzo, L. Annunziato. Na+ -Ca2+ exchanger (NCX3) knock-out mice display an impairment in hippocampal long-term potentiation and spatial learning and memory. J Neurosci. 2011;31(20):7312-21. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6296-10.2011. PubMed PMID: 21593315.
*E. Nguidjoe#, S. Sokolow#, S. Bigabwa, N. Pachera, E. D'Amico, F. Allagnat, J. M. Vanderwinden, A. Sener, M. Manto, M. Depreter, J. Mast, G. Joanny, E. Montanya, J. Rahier, A. K. Cardozo, D. L. Eizirik, S. Schurmans, A. Herchuelz. Heterozygous Inactivation of the Na/Ca Exchanger Increases Glucose-Induced Insulin Release, {beta}-Cell Proliferation, and Mass. Diabetes. 2011;60(8):2076-85. doi: 10.2337/db10-0924. PubMed PMID: 21659499; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3142081. #Joint first authors who contributed equally to the investigation.
c*S. Sokolow, S. H. Luu, K. Nandy, C. A. Miller, H. V. Vinters, W. W. Poon, K. H. Gylys. Preferential accumulation of amyloid-beta in presynaptic glutamatergic terminals (VGluT1 and VGluT2) in Alzheimer's disease cortex. Neurobiology of Disease. 45 (2012) 381-387. PubMed PMID: 21914482; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3339276.
*J. M. Ringman, H. Schulman, C. Becker, T. Jones, Y. Bai, F. Immermann, G. Cole, S. Sokolow, K. Gylys, D. H. Geschwind, J. L. Cummings, H. I. Wan. Proteomic changes in cerebrospinal fluid of presymptomatic and affected persons carrying familial Alzheimer disease mutations. Arch Neurol. 69 (2012) 96-104. PubMed PMID: 22232349; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3632731.
c*S. Sokolow, K. M. Henkins, I. A. Williams, H. V. Vinters, I. Schmid, G. M. Cole, K. H. Gylys. Isolation of synaptic terminals from Alzheimer's disease cortex. Cytometry Part A. 81A (2012) 248-254. PubMed PMID: 22213704; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3315390.
*S. Sokolow, K. M. Henkins, T. Bilousova, C. A. Miller, H. V. Vinters, W. Poon, G. M. Cole, K. H. Gylys. AD synapses contain abundant Abeta monomer and multiple soluble oligomers, including a 56-kDa assembly. Neurobiol Aging 33 (2012) 1545-1555. PubMed PMID: 21741125; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3193864.
*K. M. Henkins, S. Sokolow, C. A. Miller, H. V. Vinters, W. Poon, L. B. Cornwell, T. Saing, K. H. Gylys. Extensive p-tau pathology and SDS-stable p-tau oligomers in Alzheimer's cortical synapses. Brain Pathology 22 (2012) 826-833. PubMed PMID: 22486774; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3410970.
*A. Pannaccione, A. Secondo, P. Molinaro, C. D'Avanzo, M. Cantile, A. Esposito, F. Boscia, A. Scorziello, R. Sirabella, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz, G. Di Renzo, L. Annunziato. A New Concept: Aβ1–42 Generates a Hyperfunctional Proteolytic NCX3 Fragment That Delays Caspase-12 Activation and Neuronal Death. J Neurosci, 32 (2012) 10609-10617. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6429-11.2012. Erratum in: J Neurosci. 2012 Dec 12; 32(50):18269. PubMed PMID: 22855810.
*F. Boscia, C. D'Avanzo, A. Pannaccione, A. Secondo, A. Casamassa, L. Formisano, N. Guida, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz,L. Annunziato, Silencing or knocking out the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger-3 (NCX3) impairs oligodendrocyte differentiation. Cell Death Differ, 19 (2012) 562-572. doi: 10.1038/cdd.2011.125. Erratum in: Cell Death Differ. 2013 Jan;20(1):184. PubMed PMID: 21959935; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3307971.
*F. Hohendanner, S. Ljubojević, N. MacQuaide, M. Sacherer, S. Sedej, L. Biesmans, P. Wakula, D. Platzer, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz, G. Antoons, K. Sipido, B. Pieske and F. R. Heinzel. Intracellular Dyssynchrony of Diastolic Cytosolic [Ca2+] Decay in Ventricular Cardiomyocytes in Cardiac Remodeling and Human Heart Failure. Circulation Research (2013);113(5):527-38. doi: 10.1161/circresaha. 113.300895. PubMed PMID: 23825358.
§P. Molinaro, M. Cataldi, O. Cuomo, D. Viggiano, G. Pignatero, R. Sirabella, A. Secondo, F. Boscia, A. Pannaccione, A. Scorziello, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz, G. Di Renzo and L. Annunziato. Genetically modified mice as a strategy to unravel the role played by the Na(+)/Ca (2+) exchanger in brain ischemia and in spatial learning and memory deficits. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2013;961:213-22. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-4756-6_18. PubMed PMID: 23224882.
c*J. Jin, A.J. Lao, M. Katsura, A. Caputo, F. E. Schweizer, S. Sokolow. Involvement of the Sodium-Calcium exchanger 3 (NCX3) in ziram-induced calcium dysregulation and toxicity. Neurotoxicology. 45C (2014), 56-66. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2014.09.004. PubMed PMID: 25284465; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4267994.
*L. Apostolova, K.S. Hwang, D. Elashoff, O. Kohannim, E.H. Teng, S. Sokolow, C.R. Jack Jr, W. Jagust, L. Shaw, J.J.Q. Trojanowski, M.W. Weiner, P.M. Thompson, For the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging I. Presence of brain amyloidosis can be ascertained from cognitive, imaging and peripheral blood protein measures. Neurology, 84 (2015) 729-37, doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001231. PubMed PMID: 25609767.
c* S. Sokolow, K. Henkins, T. Bilousova, B. Gonzalez, H.V. Vinters, C.A. Miller, L.B. Cornwell, W. Poon, K.H. Gylys. Intrasynaptic C-terminal truncated tau is released from cortical synapses in Alzheimer’s disease. J Neurochem., 133(3) (2015) 368-79, doi: 10.1111/jnc.12991. PubMed PMID: 25393609; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4397171.
*A. Casamassa, C. La Rocca, S. Sokolow, A. Herchuelz, G. Matarese, L. Annunziato and F. Bosci. Ncx3 gene ablation impairs oligodendrocyte precursor response and increases susceptibility to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Glia. Jul;64(7) (2016) :1124-37. doi: 10.1002/glia.22985. PubMed PMID: 27120265
c* S. Sokolow, X. Li, L. Chen, K. D. Taylor, J. I. Rotter, R. A. Rissman, P. S. Aisen, and L. G. Apostolova. Deleterious Effect of Butyrylcholinesterase K-Variant in Donepezil Treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment. J Alzheimers Dis, 56 (2017): 229-37. doi: 10.3233/JAD-160562.
Guo, C. Lai, C. Wu, G. Cen; #Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Conversion Discriminative Analysis on Mild Cognitive Impairment Using Multiple Cortical Features from MR Images. Front Aging Neurosci. 2017 May 18;9:146. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2017.00146. eCollection 2017.
C. Sarnowski , C.L. Satizabal, C. DeCarli, A.N. Pitsillides, LA. Cupples, RS. Vasan, J.G. Wilson, J.C. Bis, M. Fornage, A.S. Beiser, A.L. DeStefano, J. Dupuis, S. Seshadri; NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium; #TOPMed Neurocognitive Working Group. Whole genome sequence analyses of brain imaging measures in the Framingham Study. Neurology. 2018 Jan 16;90(3):e188-e196. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000004820.
Samuel-Nakamura C, Hodge FS, S. Sokolow*, Ali AS, Robbins WA. Metal(loid)s in Cucurbita pepo in a Uranium Mining Impacted Area in Northwestern New Mexico, USA. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(14):2569. Published 2019 Jul 18. doi:10.3390/ijerph16142569
Kessler MD, Loesch DP, Perry JA, Heard-Costa NL, Taliun D, Cade BE, Wang H, Daya M, Ziniti J, Datta S, Celedón JC, Soto-Quiros ME, Avila L, Weiss ST, Barnes K, Redline SS, Vasan RS, Johnson AD, Mathias RA, Hernandez R, Wilson JG, Nickerson DA, Abecasis G, Browning SR, Zöllner S, O'Connell JR, Mitchell BD; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium;TOPMed Population Genetics Working Group, O'Connor TD. De novo mutations across 1,465 diverse genomes reveal mutational insights and reductions in the Amish founder population. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;117(5):2560-2569. doi:10.1073/pnas.1902766117
Stage, E., Svaldi, D., Sokolow, S., Risacher, S. L., Marosi, K., Rotter, J. I., Saykin, A. J., & Apostolova, L. G. (2021). Prescribing cholinesterase inhibitors in mild cognitive impairment-Observations from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Alzheimers Dement (N Y), 7(1), e12168. https://doi.org/10.1002/trc2.12168
Trendafilova, T., Adhikari, K., Schmid, A. B., Patel, R., Polgár, E., Chisholm, K. I., Middleton, S. J., Boyle, K., Dickie, A. C., Semizoglou, E., Perez-Sanchez, J., Bell, A. M., Ramirez-Aristeguieta, L. M., Khoury, S., Ivanov, A., Wildner, H., Ferris, E., Chacón-Duque, J. C., Sokolow, S., Saad Boghdady, M. A., Herchuelz, A., Faux, P., Poletti, G., Gallo, C., Rothhammer, F., Bedoya, G., Zeilhofer, H. U., Diatchenko, L., McMahon, S. B., Todd, A. J., Dickenson, A. H., Ruiz-Linares, A., & Bennett, D. L. (2022). Sodium-calcium exchanger-3 regulates pain "wind-up": From human psychophysics to spinal mechanisms. Neuron, 110(16), 2571-2587.e2513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.05.017
Zhang, Y., Liu, X., Wiggins, K. L., Kurniansyah, N., Guo, X., Rodrigue, A. L., Zhao, W., Yanek, L. R., Ratliff, S. M., Pitsillides, A., Aguirre Patiño, J. S., Sofer, T., Arking, D. E., Austin, T. R., Beiser, A. S., Blangero, J., Boerwinkle, E., Bressler, J., Curran, J. E., Hou, L., Hughes, T. M., Kardia, S. L. R., Launer, L. J., Levy, D., Mosley, T. H., Nasrallah, I. M., Rich, S. S., Rotter, J. I., Seshadri, S., Tarraf, W., González, K. A., Ramachandran, V., Yaffe, K., Nyquist, P. A., Psaty, B. M., DeCarli, C. S., Smith, J. A., Glahn, D. C., González, H. M., Bis, J. C., Fornage, M., Heckbert, S. R., Fitzpatrick, A. L., Liu, C., & Satizabal, C. L. NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program, Mitochondrial and Neurocognitive Working Groups. (2023). Association of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number With Brain MRI Markers and Cognitive Function: A Meta-analysis of Community-Based Cohorts. Neurology, 100(18), e1930-e1943. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000207157
Sheikh IA, Midura-Kiela MT, Herchuelz A, Sokolow S, Kiela PR, Ghishan FK. The Na+/Ca2+ exchanger NCX3 mediates Ca2+ entry into matrix vesicles to facilitate initial steps of mineralization in osteoblasts. J Extracell Vesicles. 2024 Jun;13(6):e12450. doi: 10.1002/jev2.12450. PMID: 38859730; PMCID: PMC11165172.