Headlines
As reported by the New Britain Herald, February 10, 2011.
UConn VP Named to National Academy
By Scott Whipple
Dr. Cato T. Laurencin has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering. Laurencin is vice president for health affairs at the UConn Health Center, dean of the UConn School of Medicine, and an internationally prominent orthopaedic surgeon and bioengineering expert.
Election to the NAE is among the nation’s highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.
Elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004, Laurencin is among an elite group -- representing approximately 7 percent of the National Academy of Engineering’s total membership -- elected to two National Academies. He is among a group of 68 new members elected to the NAE. The announcement singled out his work in biomaterials science, drug delivery, and tissue engineering involving musculoskeletal systems, as well as for his academic leadership.
“This is a true honor for me,” Laurencin said. “I am humbled to be elected to the academy and am deeply grateful to my mentors, colleagues, students and patients who have inspired me through the years.”
Laurencin’s career has followed a dual path in orthopaedic surgery and engineering. He has pioneered advances in tissue and regenerative engineering and focused on applications to help patients regain mobility and strength. His research involves tissue engineering, biomaterials science, drug delivery systems, nanotechnology and stem cell science. At UConn, he is a distinguished professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Chemical, Biomolecular and Materials Engineering, as well as a professor of Biomedical Engineering.
A fellow of the American Surgical Association, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Laurencin has been recognized by America’s Top Doctors, America’s Top Surgeons and Black Enterprise Magazine in its Leading Doctors Edition. He has won the prestigious Nicholas Andry Award from the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons.
Laurencin is a resident of Avon.