Dr. Laura Cassidy graduated from the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama Medical School. After choosing to be a General Surgeon, she was accepted to the Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles where she finished her residency and served, in her final year, as Chief Resident.

In California, she met her future husband, Bill Cassidy. After marrying Bill and practicing General Surgery in LA, she and Bill moved to Baton Rouge in 1989, joining the faculty of the LSU Health Science Center; Laura, as Chief of Surgery, at the teaching hospital where they served.

Laura later entered private practice treating diseases of the breast. She was the first woman in Louisiana to focus her surgical practice on breast cancer. Laura advanced breast conservation surgery, sentinel node biopsies, and other treatment options for women with breast cancer.

She left her practice in 2006 for other challenges, first and foremost raising her and Bill’s three children. During this time, they discovered that their youngest child–Kate–was dyslexic. This led Laura on a journey to find appropriate education for Kate*. Because of this experience, she and two other women started the Louisiana Key Academy, a public charter school for children with dyslexia so that all families, regardless of personal circumstances can access appropriate evidence-based education.

 

Laura continues as President of the Board. She and Bill work with Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz advocating for people with dyslexia at a national level.

*Kate was not educated at the Louisiana Key Academy.