Tributes have poured in to a Huddersfield woman who became a top scientist.

Laura Cliffe, who was working in the United States, died aged just 34 and it emerged she had fought a 13-year battle with anorexia.

She was backed by her family, friends, doctors and counsellors but died in her sleep at her home in Athens, Georgia.

Now many relatives and friends are planning to get together in Huddersfield on Saturday to pay their own tribute to a woman described as “an amazing, funny, feisty, one of a kind gem who embraced life and feared nothing”.

The celebration will be at The Woodman in Thunderbridge on Saturday afternoon.

Laura’s mum Barbara, who lives in Lascelles Hall, said: “We plan to celebrate her life in style.

“She did so much in such a short time. Her death was so sudden; it seems her heart just gave out.

“Laura had anorexia for 13 years but did not realise that for the first four. She was determined to beat it as were her family, her friends, her doctors and her counsellors.

“We were all pulling in the same direction and we all wanted the same thing for her”.

Laura lived in Athens with her partner Bob Sabatini, who worked with her at the University of Georgia, and her beloved dog Forrest.

She moved out to the States in 2005 as a parasitologist after earlier joining an extraordinary group of students and faculty at the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, for a summer course devoted entirely to parasites.

Laura Cliffe and her partner Bob Sabatini

For Laura, the combination of parasites and Cape Cod was heavenly. She was to return to Woods Hole often to attend meetings and eventually joining the laboratory of Bob Sabatini, at the Marine Biological Laboratory, as a postdoctoral fellow.

She began her studies on a new parasite, the trypanosome, which causes human sleeping sickness and other important diseases. She also led research into human intestinal worms and had papers published in the magazine Science.

A colleague said: “Laura was an amazing, funny, feisty, one of a kind gem who embraced life and feared nothing. She had a full life and made many friends wherever she went.

“Her friendship meant that you would be showered with loving attention, help when you needed it and invitations to parties at her home and rendezvous’ at her favourite bars or cafes. Among Laura’s many interests was science and she was a gifted student and researcher. She worked on human parasites and her discoveries have changed conventional views of how these organisms cause disease”.

Laura was educated at King James School, where she was head girl, Greenhead College and then the universities of Nottingham and Manchester, where she got a Phd in 2005. She was inspired in her career by Dr Richard Grencis at the University of Manchester.

Her mum said: “She was a girl who wanted to be involved with everything, especially teams.

“She was never brilliant at any sports but managed to swim competitively, enjoy karate, play cricket for Yorkshire girls, football for Huddersfield Town and netball at both college and university.

““She was just one of those kids who always wanted to be involved”

Laura leaves her partner Bob, mum Barbara and her fiance Keith Midwood, and sister Leah.

Forrest, Laura Cliffe's dog on which she doted