The goal of this research is to determine the effect of laser exposure on human tissues and to study the resulting impact. The analysis includes quantification of tissue parameters, response of tissues to optical irradiation, and modeling of the interaction. We study photoacoustic, photothermal, cellular insult, photochemical, and photomechanical processes and their effect on tissues. Our work emphasizes the occupational and environmental health aspects of laser tissue interaction, with experiments and modeling efforts, which result in suggestions to the laser safety community where safety standards either do not exist, or where deficiencies in biological data has made the criteria for setting standards ambiguous. The laboratory offers extensive laser facilities and support equipment including regenerative amplified femtosecond laser systems, core computational facilities, nanosecond laser systems (including OPO), extensive CW lasers, pump-probe imaging, picosecond streak camera, extensive spectroscopic capability, fast photodiodes, and autocorrelation instrumentation for in-depth analysis of laser tissue interaction.