Sarah completed her PhD with the Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre in 2015. Sarah’s research while a PhD student at the Centre was based on the analysis of dementia screening assessment scales. Using Mokken scaling analysis Sarah analysed cognitive screening measures. Specifically, her analysis contributed to the development of the Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination, a brief and sensitive cognitive screening tool for dementia, which is being utilised both in research and in practice. Since completing her PhD Sarah has continued to work at the University of Edinburgh with a current research focus on investigating whether the retina can provide reliable biomarkers for future risk of dementia and sensitive biomarkers of disease progression of either cognitive decline or brain vessels degeneration.