Laurel Lee, M.D., Ph.D.

Biography

Laurel Y. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of its Division of Cardiology. She specializes in general cardiology.

Dr. Lee received bachelor’s degrees in biology and neuroscience from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and earned her doctoral degree in T-cell immunology as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford in England. She completed her medical degree at Harvard Medical School through the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology physician-scientist program. She received internal medicine residency training, cardiology fellowship training, and National Institutes of Health T32 grant-funded postdoctoral fellowship training in vascular biology and metabolism at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in cardiovascular disease, Dr. Lee joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2024. She previously served as a faculty member at Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

As a physician-scientist, Dr. Lee combines clinical cardiology practice with vascular biology and immunology basic science laboratory research. Her vascular immunology laboratory focuses on molecular and cellular mechanisms by which immune activation perturbs vascular homeostasis, which makes blood vessels susceptible to various cardiovascular and metabolic pathologies such as atherosclerosis. The ultimate goal of her scientific program is to improve patients’ vascular resilience and help prevent myocardial infarction, stroke, and ischemic limb loss.

Dr. Lee’s scientific discoveries have been presented at multiple national and international scientific meetings, and she has also served as a co-chair for the vascular research program at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions. She is an active member of the American Heart Association and the North American Vascular Biology Organization and serves as an early-career editorial board member for the American Heart Association’s journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

Dr. Lee has received multiple awards, including a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K08 grant, the Lerner Cardiology Faculty Research Award from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Martha Grey Research Award from Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology.

Personal Note

When she’s not at work, Dr. Lee enjoys music, rowing, and spending time in nature.