The University of Connecticut\u2019s Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., K.C.S.L. presented the Cato T. Laurencin Distinguished Research Career Award to James E.K. Hildreth Sr., M.D., Ph.D., during the opening ceremonies of the National Medical Association (NMA) Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 25, 2026. The award, named in honor of Laurencin, is considered one of the highest honors of the W. Montague Cobb National Medical Association Health Institute and the National Medical Association. It recognizes an individual who has demonstrated more than 20 years of consistent, long-lasting contributions to benefit African Americans and to reduce heath disparities through recognized research and inquiry.<\/p>\n
Hildreth was honored for his influential work in immunology, virology, and HIV research and dedication throughout his career to health equity by advancing medical research, education, and healthcare access for underserved communities.<\/p>\n
In July 2005, Hildreth became the director of the NIH-funded Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College. Hildreth has served on the national health advisory committees and boards, including the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. He was named the 2022 Nashvillian of the Year for his work running COVID-19 testing centers for the city of Nashville during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
His honors include election to the National Academy of Medicine, induction into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, the Frederick C. Greenwood Award for his work and research on HIV\/AIDS in African Americans, and the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association’s Knowledge for the World Award. He was voted one of the 100 Most Influential Healthcare Leaders by Modern Healthcare in December 2022.<\/p>\n
Hildreth is currently the 12th president and CEO of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, where he has led significant institutional growth. Under his leadership, Meharry\u2019s research funding increased from $28 million to $99 million, the School of Applied Computational Sciences and the School of Global Health were established, academic programs expanded, and a $500 million capital campaign reached 85% of its goal.<\/p>\n
Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., K.C.S.L., is the CEO of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, a cross-campus institute at the University of Connecticut and UConn Health. He is also the editor-in-chief of The Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, published by Springer Nature. Laurencin co-founded the W. Montague Cobb\/NMA Health Institute, a national consortium of scholars that engages in innovative research and knowledge dissemination for the reduction and elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities and racism in medicine. He has received four awards for his work in mentoring: the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring from President Obama; the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mentor Award; the Alvin Crawford Award for Mentoring, and the Beckman Award for Mentoring. At UConn he has created and established the Young Innovative Investigator Program (YIIP), the UConn Research Experience and Mentoring in Regenerative Engineering Program (funded by the National Science Foundation) and A Scientific Program in Regenerative Engineering (ASPIRE), funded by the Department of Education and the M1 Mentoring Program. The programs have a special emphasis on providing opportunities for underrepresented students to enter science and health professions.<\/p>\n
A national force for justice, he received the Hoover Medal, given by the principal engineering societies in America, for creating a fairer, more just world, the Herbert W. Nickens Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges for promoting social justice, and the William Montague Cobb National Award from the NAACP, recognizing his leadership in equity.<\/p>\n
At the University of Connecticut, Dr. Laurencin serves as University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery. He also holds Professorships in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering. He is a core faculty member of the Africana Studies Institute at UConn. He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, an Institute created and named in his honor.<\/p>\n
Sir Cato Laurencin is the first surgeon in history elected to all four major National Academies. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine, and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is also an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hildreth was honored for his extraordinary contributions in immunology, virology, HIV research, and health equity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249,"featured_media":253787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":2233,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2429,1866,179,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2740],"class_list":["post-253786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards-scholarships","category-engr","category-uconn-health","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-12 22:36:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253788,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253786\/revisions\/253788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/253787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253786"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=253786"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=253786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}