Laura grew up in the wilds of Montana but knew by age 12 that she was meant to be a physician.    

Curious about nature and the creatures she encountered, she has clear childhood memories of comparing the ocular anatomy of dragonflies with the fresh trout she had just caught from the river that runs through her grandparents cattle ranch. She believes the eyes are a person’s most beautiful, defining feature which may explain her savant talent for automatically remembering the eye color of anyone she has ever met.   The stubborn, hard-working Norwegian in her facilitated putting herself through college and graduating early.

Equal parts scientist, artist and common-sense-Montana form the roots to make complex science fun with the humorous sayings and analogies she uses as a clinician and international lecturer.   Her fascination with molecular immunobiology began as a research assistant at immunex and continues as an ocular surface disease expert.  When the door is closed and it is just Laura and the patient working together on their dry eye disease, she feels she is living her soul’s purpose.  A dry eye disease sufferer herself, she avoids asking a patient to try something she hasn’t tried on herself.  Years ago, her tough-as-nails, heart-of-gold technician, Christeen, affectionately coined the term “dry eye master” and her nickname and twitter handle stuck.  

In her spare time, Laura enjoys skiing and 5k racing with her family.   Captivated by the music of Daryl Hall and John Oates, she enjoys studying music theory and playing her vintage Breedlove walnut-top guitar.