Alaa Al-Shaer is a postdoctoral fellow at Simon Fraser University, where her research sits at the intersection of single-molecule biophysics, matrix biochemistry, and tissue engineering. Her current work focuses on isolating structurally complex collagens and reconstituting them into biomimetic scaffolds that more faithfully recapitulate native human tissues.
During her PhD, Alaa used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to uncover how molecular sequence features encode the mechanical behavior of individual collagen molecules. This foundation now drives her efforts to translate molecular-scale insights into macroscale tissue properties. AFM has been an instrumental tool in her work, enabling insights across length scales: from identifying and quality-controlling purified matrix proteins, to probing protein–protein interactions, to quantifying the mechanical stiffness of assembled scaffolds.
Alaa Al-Shaer
Latest AFM publications:
Biography: Alaa completed her BSc in Biological Physics at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and received an NSERC PGSD Fellowship to pursue her PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, completed in 2024. Her doctoral research examined how environmental factors regulate the mechanics of single collagen molecules, which are intrinsically unstable at body temperature.
Following her PhD, Alaa worked as a research scientist at Aurora BioSolutions, where she contributed to the development of animal component-free bioprocesses for matrix protein production. She has since returned to SFU as a postdoctoral researcher, focused on engineering mechanically robust biomimetic matrices for biomedical engineering and regenerative medicine applications.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alaa-al-shaer-177b38128
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alaa-Al-Shaer
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