Laura Forster

Postdoctoral Research Associate

I studied Mathematics at Coventry University, where I first became interested in research during an industrial placement at Diamond Light Source. There, I developed a remote user interface for the I22 small-angle scattering beamline. After graduating, I worked in a biogas laboratory before completing a master’s degree in Medical Physics at the University of Surrey.

I then completed my PhD at Queen Mary University of London, investigating the nanoscale biophysics of cutaneous wound healing and fibrosis. My research combined nanoindentation, small-angle X-ray scattering and Raman spectroscopy to examine how collagen organisation, biochemical composition and tissue mechanics change during skin repair, fibrosis and therapeutic response.

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the BioSpec group, where my research uses a new commercial microscope that integrates fluorescence imaging with Brillouin spectroscopy, establishing measurement and analysis workflows for live cells and tissues with the aim of studying their mechanical properties in different biomedical contexts.