Laura Nolan is a molecular microbiologist with more than 15 years of experience in the biofilm research field. She earned her PhD from the University of Technology Sydney, Australia on understanding the role of small signalling molecules in biofilm expansion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. After her PhD she was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship to work at Imperial College London, UK. Her research during this time was focused on the role of the type VI secretion system (T6SS) of P. aeruginosa in biofilm community interactions and on exploiting knowledge of this system to facilitate identification of novel naturally validated antibacterial targets for therapeutic development. After this she was awarded an Imperial College Research Fellowship to support her own independent research on biofilm development and community interactions relevant to the cystic fibrosis lung environment. She was then awarded a BBSRC Discovery Fellowship to work at the Quadram Institute, UK to continue her independent research work, this time with a focus on food spoilage biofilms. She is currently a Principal Investigator at the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) and an Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences (SBS) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

Employment History
2024-present: Assistant Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University and Principal Investigator at the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Singapore
2023-2024: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Discovery Fellow at Quadram Institute Bioscience, U.K
2019-2023: Imperial College Research Fellow at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, U.K
2016-2019: Research Associate at the Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, U.K
2014-2016: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, U.K
2008-2009: Research Assistant at the School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia

Academic Qualifications
2014: PhD in Molecular Microbiology, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
2007: BSc. (Hons I) in Molecular Biology and Genetics, The University of Sydney, Australia

Funding and Awards
2025-2027: MoE AcRF Tier 1 April 2025 Grant Call (Lead PI) - Characterising biofilm development on food chain surfaces
2024-2026: MoE Tier 1 Seed Grant (Lead PI) - A timeline of spoilage: characterising native food spoilage biofilms
2025: Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH) NTU grant (Co-PI) - Development of innovative phage products to combat antibiotic-resistant Mycoplasma and their biofilms in cell-cultured meat production
2023: UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (Lead PI; awarded but declined to take up NTU position) - Carving out a niche on food: understanding how Pseudomonas biofilm communities survive and thrive to cause food spoilage
2022-2023: BBSRC Discovery Fellowship (Lead PI) - When food goes bad: understanding biofilm formation to prevent food spoilage
2022: NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Award (Co-PI) - Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence and persistence mechanisms as novel therapeutic targets for cystic fibrosis
2019-2023: Imperial College Research Fellowship (Lead PI) - Bacterial competition strategies in polymicrobial environments: identifying opportunities for exploitation and intervention
2019-2023: Cystic Fibrosis Trust Venture Innovation Award (Lead PI) - Understanding interbacterial competition in the cystic fibrosis lung to identify opportunities for intervention
2019-2023: MRC research grant (Co-PI) - The T6SS as a search engine for naturally validated antibacterial targets
2014-2016: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship - Bacterial warfare: Investigation into the type VI secretion system-associated toxin repertoire and mechanism of target cell puncture in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
2009-2013: Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship

Teaching
BS2002 Microbiology – Lecturer
SCELSE Summer Biofilm Course – Lecturer

Service and Committees
2025-present: ISME22 conference local organising committee member
2024-present: NTU Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) Member
2024-present: SCELSE Research Directorate Member
2021: Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology Special Edition: Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
2018-2019: Vice President of the MRC CMBI Postdoctoral Society at Imperial College London