Emily R. Forster, Ph.D.

Overview

Emily is a technology specialist in the Life Sciences group, primarily focused on molecular biology. She assists in drafting and prosecuting U.S. and foreign patent applications, performs freedom to operate and patentability analyses, and conducts due diligence reviews.

Prior to joining L&A, Emily earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology at Tufts University where she used chemical proteomics to discover bile acid-binding proteins in the gastrointestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile and studied how protein:protein interactions control C. difficile spore germination in response to small molecules. While doing her research, Emily also mentored undergraduate students through the Tufts University Pathway to the Ph.D. program and was an organizer for the annual Boston Bacterial Meeting.

Emily received her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She performed undergraduate research on the intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes as a platform for cancer immunotherapy, where she engineered L. monocytogenes to secrete inflammasome inhibitor proteins within host cells to promote robust T cell responses to tumor antigens. Emily has presented at several U.S. and international conferences on microbiology and immunology. She has also authored or co-authored scientific research articles published in ACS Chemical Biology, PLoS Genetics, PLoS Pathogens, the Biochemical Journal, and Cell.