Dr. Laura Elizabeth Niklason is a distinguished physician, professor, and pioneering researcher in vascular and lung tissue engineering. She holds the position of Nicholas M. Greene Professor of Anesthesiology and Biomedical Engineering at Yale University, where she has been a faculty member since 2006. 

Dr. Niklason earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Bachelor of Arts in Biophysics from the University of Illinois in 1983. She then obtained her M.D. from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Chicago. She completed her medical training in anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1996. 

In 2004, Dr. Niklason founded Humacyte, a regenerative medicine company focused on developing bioengineered human tissues. She has served as its President and CEO since 2020.