Born in 1962 in Virginia, USA, Lee Ann Laurent-Applegate grew up in South Dakota. After obtaining his PhD in sciences devoted to cell and molecular skin repair at the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque) in 1987 she became a postdoctoral researcher in the Lovelace Medical Foundation (Albuquerque), then at MD Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas in conjunction with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Biologist, specialist in tissue engineering for regeneration of the skin and musculoskeletal tissues, Lee Ann Laurent-Applegate was appointed associate professor at the UNIL since 1 st February 2010. She heads the Unit since 2005 cell therapy attached to plastic and reconstructive Surgery CHUV.