Lee Ann Laurent-Applegate earned her doctorate at the University of New Mexico. She moved to Switzerland for an International Fellowship for Cancer Research Award in 1989 and is currently the director of cellular therapies in the department of musculoskeletal medicine. She holds joint appointments at EPFL and the University of Zurich. Laurent-Applegate has developed cellular therapies for different clinical applications since 1993 using progenitor cells from musculoskeletal tissues and particularly for the treatment of burn patients, with a special interest in the safety and stability of cellular therapies.