Dr. Cato T. Laurencin’s talk, “Regenerative Engineering, The Future is Here,” delivered this Spring, was sponsored by the University of Maryland Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).
The endowed biennial lectureship was established to honor the memory of Stephen R. Max, Ph.D., a great scientist, and the former and founding MD-Ph.D. Program Director. The lectureship invites an outstanding physician scientist to visit the scientific community, interact with and mentor MSTP students there, and deliver a major scientific lecture.
Laurencin earned a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University. He completed the Harvard Medical School Medical Scientist Training Program, earning his MD from the Harvard Medical School, Magna Cum Laude, and his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Laurencin is the University Professor at UConn and the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the UConn School of Medicine, professor of Chemical Engineering, professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He is chief executive officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, a cross-university institute named in his honor at UConn.
In his talk, he encouraged students to pursue excellence in all they do. He discussed his autobiography entitled, Success is What You Leave Behind, published by Elsevier. He encouraged students to give back throughout their careers. Laurencin’s work in mentorship is well known. He has created and established numerous programs in his career including the UConn Young Innovative Investigator Program, the UConn M-1 Program, the UConn Pre-K Program, the UConn NSF EFRI Regenerative Engineering REM and REU Programs, and the UConn NIH T32 Regenerative Engineering at the University of Connecticut alone. The UConn Foundation established the Cato T. Laurencin Scholars Award given to undergraduate students, while nationally, the Society for Biomaterials created the Cato T. Laurencin, MD, Ph.D. Travel Award given to undergraduate students in Biomaterials Science. He is the first to receive the three principal national awards for mentoring: the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mentor Award, the Beckman Award for Mentoring, and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring given to him by President Barack Obama in ceremonies at the White House.
The pioneer of the field of Regenerative Engineering, Laurencin is the first surgeon elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. As an orthopaedic surgeon physician-scientist he is the first individual to receive the Nicolas Andry Award (highest honor of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons), the Kappa Delta Award (highest research honor of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons), the Marshal Urist Award (highest honor in regeneration of the Orthopaedic Research Society), and the American Orthopaedic Association’s (AOA) Distinguished Contributions to Orthopaedic Surgery with induction into the AOA Awards Hall of Fame.
