About

Sofia Aziz is an Independent Researcher and Biomedical Egyptologist with a life‑long passion for ancient Egypt. She has contributed to numerous publications, provided expert consultations for media, appeared in various podcasts, and featured in several documentaries and TV series including Egypt’s Unexplained Files and Waking the Dead with Bettany Hughes. She has also co-produced several documentary projects, bringing her research directly into the development of public-facing media. 

Her primary research interests lie in Egyptian medicine and mummification methods, which intersect with a wide range of scientific and historical disciplines. Her work focuses on understanding the health of the ancient Egyptians and the diseases they suffered from. Sofia is the recipient of the 2022 award for outstanding achievement in Biomedical Egyptology. Her research involves analysing radiological datasets, examining palaeopathological records, and studying medical papyri to deepen our understanding of ancient Egyptian lives. This work is grounded in an interdisciplinary approach that uses minimally invasive, modern biomedical techniques such as CT scanning, nucleic acid analysis, proteomics, lipidomics, and histology.

In 2025, she delivered a podium presentation of her research at the XI World Congress on Mummy Studies in Cusco, Peru — a leading international gathering for specialists in mummy science.

Her current research explores neuroscience in ancient Egypt. Her book, The Human Brain in Ancient Egypt, offers a re‑evaluation of what ancient Egyptian physicians understood about the brain’s functions, providing new insights into mummification methods and ancient Egyptian medicine.