Laura P. Hale, MD PhD is board-certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and a Professor of Pathology at Duke University in Durham, NC. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and chemistry from Michigan State University, a Master of Science degree in physical chemistry from Rutgers University, and a PhD in Immunology and a MD as part of Duke’s National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Medical Scientist Training Program. She completed a residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Duke, then joined the faculty of the Duke Department of Pathology. Dr. Hale’s academic career has focused on studies of immune-mediated diseases. Since 1995, she has served as Principal Investigator, co-investigator, and/or pathologist on over 38 NIH- and privately funded grants that studied mechanisms and novel therapies for immune-mediated diseases. She has authored over 125 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and is an inventor on 3 patents.

Dr. Hale is expert in histopathologic and molecular evaluation of the structure and function of thymus across the lifespan of humans, rodents, pigs, and non-human primates. She was part of the team led by Dr. M. Louise Markert that developed and then obtained FDA approval for cultured thymus tissue implantation (CTTI) as a treatment for congenital absence of a thymus. Since 2020, Dr. Hale has teamed with Dr. Turek on multiple NIH- and privately-funded projects that seek to enhance and exploit the potential of CTTI to induce tolerance to co-transplanted solid organs, such as the heart.