Dr. Cato T. Laurencin Meets with St. Lucia Prime Minister to Review Progress of UConn-St. Lucia Cooperation Agreement

This January UConn's Dr. Cato T. Laurencin visited St. Lucia where he bestowed the first struck medal Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award to St. Lucia's Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre in honorary recognition of his support of regenerative engineering in the country.

Dr. Laurencin with St. Lucia Prime Minister

UConn's Dr. Cato T. Laurencin bestows the first Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award struck medal upon the Honorable Philip J. Pierre, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia. (Photo Courtesy of Dr. Laurencin).

Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award
Struck medal of the Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award.

University of Connecticut Professor Cato T. Laurencin, CEO of the Connecticut Convergence Institute at UConn Health, met with the Prime Minister of St. Lucia during a January 18- 22 trip to the country.

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers recently endowed the Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award and Laurencin had the honor of bestowing the first struck medal upon the Honorable Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, in honorary recognition of his support of regenerative engineering in the country.

This January the Honorable Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, met with University Professor Dr. Cato T. Laurencin of UConn (Photo Courtesy of Dr. Laurencin).

During the recent trip, he attended the 30th annual Nobel Laureate Festival celebrating Sir Arthur Lewis and Sir Derek Walcott.  Laurencin was selected to lay the official wreath at the tomb of the St. Lucian poet and Nobel Laureate, Derek Walcott. In addition, he visited Sir Arthur Lewis’ tomb site with Sir Arthur Lewis’ nephew, Sir Vaughan Lewis.

Dr. Laurencin in St. Lucia
Dr. Laurencin laying a wreath at the tomb of the St. Lucian poet and Nobel Laureate, Derek Walcott.

Finally, he met with officials in St. Lucia on the highly successful UConn JUMP Saint Lucia Program aimed at encouraging and educating Saint Lucian communities on healthy eating and exercise.

“The initiative has now grown to be a grassroots program for St. Lucians by St. Lucians,” Laurencin noted.

The program serves as a centerpiece of a cooperative agreement between UConn and St. Lucia.

Dr. Laurencin in St. Lucia
Dr. Laurencin visited Sir Arthur Lewis’ tomb site with Sir Arthur Lewis’ nephew, Sir Vaughan Lewis.