Dr. Laura Halverson completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology and Biology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina prior to completing two years as an intramural research scholar at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. While there, she developed an interest both in a multidisciplinary approach to the delivery of medical care and the impact of mental health across all areas of medicine. She subsequently attended the University of Michigan for her medical degree, graduating with academic honors and particular distinction for her bedside manner with the award for Excellence in Clinical Skills and the Art of Medicine. She was also bestowed the Eli G. Rochelson Memorial Award, honoring the most outstanding performance in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine by a graduating medical student.
After completing her internal medicine residency at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, she spent two years as an attending hospitalist prior to returning for fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care at Washington University in St. Louis. During her research time as a fellow she worked under the mentorship of Dr. Ramsey Hachem to develop several protocols to further categorize and understand the impact of frailty and sarcopenia on the clinical outcomes of lung transplantation. Dr. Halverson joins the lung transplant medical group as a clinician-educator with interest in the care of end-stage lung disease pre-and-post lung transplantation, with a particular focus on assisting patients and their families navigate complex decision-making in the setting of severe illness. Her research interests include the impact of frailty, psychosocial factors, and mental health on lung transplant outcomes. Dr. Halverson is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine. She is a member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT).