Dr Laura Bird completed her PhD in psychology and Master of Clinical Psychology in 2019, in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at The University of Melbourne. Her doctoral thesis, completed in collaboration with The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, explored the neuroprotective benefits of music training for cognition in people with epilepsy. Dr Bird concurrently worked as a research associate and postdoctoral researcher in the Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience laboratory at The Florey, investigating longitudinal cognitive and brain changes after stroke.

Dr Bird is currently a Research Fellow in Psychology at the Turner Institute, working across research teams focusing on developing digital technologies to monitor and improve wellbeing, cognitive health, and facilitate healthy aging. She provides expertise to the Monash THRIVE team, collaborating to develop digital resources for cognitive and mental health in students, in addition to currently managing the Child Development and Digital Technologies Laboratory (June 2023-June 2024). Dr. Bird is interested in exploring risk and protective factors for cognitive and mental health across a range of clinical populations (e.g., epilepsy, stroke, dementia, acquired brain injury, functional neurological disorders), and has a special passion for investigating how to harness the beneficial effects of listening to and playing music for wellbeing.