Forrest's research studies the biology of computation and the computation of biology, including work on computational immunology, computer security, automated software repair, evolutionary computation, and biological modeling. Some of her awards include: SFI Stanislaw Ulam Memorial Lectures (2013), UNM Annual Research Lecture (2012), ACM/AAAI Allen Newell Award (2011), the Presidential Young Investigator Award (1991). She is a Fellow of the IEEE.