Laura Masgrau has a degree (1997) and a PhD (2002) in Chemistry from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Her thesis focused on the computational study of atmospheric reactions of environmental interest initiated by the hydroxyl radical and with contributions from quantum effects such as tunneling.
After the thesis, hes research moved to the field of enzymatic activity. She did a first 3-year postdoc at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Leicester, where she worked in a multidisciplinary team of molecular modellers, enzymologists and crystallographers in the study of nuclear quantum effects in some enzyme-catalyzed reactions.
She did a second postdoc (2 years) at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, where she began her studies of carbohydrate processing enzymes.
She returned to Catalonia at the beginning of 2008 to work at the Institut de Biotecnolgia i de Biomedician (IBB) of the UAB as a Ramón y Cajal researcher. She was the secretary of the IBB for almost 5 years. In 2014 she won a competitive Talent-Banco Santander contract and in 2018 a UAB Talent, which co-financed with a research contract with the company ZYMVOL. Since 2022 she has been an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the UAB.
Her current research continues focused on the study of enzymes (reactivity, mechanism, specificity, affinity, structure, engineering, etc.), with a view to possible biomedical and/or biotechnological applications. And especially in enzymes that process carbohydrates, but also some oxidative enzymes. She is also particularly interested in the biological role and potential applications of sugar-receptor interactions.
