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News Release

September 5, 2012

Contact: Chris DeFrancesco, 860-679-3914
Email: cdefrancesco@uchc.edu

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin Honored by Connecticut General Assembly

Citation Recognizes His Contributions as VP for Health Affairs and Medical School Dean

FARMINGTON, CONN. – Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, an internationally recognized orthopedic surgeon, biomedical engineer, and administrator at the University of Connecticut Health Center, recently was recognized by the Connecticut General Assembly.

An official citation signed by legislative leaders and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill thanks Laurencin for his many contributions to the state during his time as UConn Health Center vice president for health affairs and dean of the UConn School of Medicine, and for his enduring leadership in bioscience innovations and research.

Laurencin, of Avon, currently serves as director of the Health Center’s Institute for Regenerative Engineering and is the founding director of the new Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences. He also serves as chief executive officer of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.

Earlier this year, Laurencin’s research was recognized in a special issue of National Geographic among the “100 scientific discoveries that changed the world.” His research focuses on revolutionizing care for patients with tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), one of the most common knee injuries. It includes work on a new approach to ACL regeneration that incorporates the use of a biocompatible and degradable synthetic braided matrix that would be surgically implanted to create ligament tissue.

Throughout his career, Laurencin has followed a dual path in orthopedic surgery and engineering. Along with tissue engineering, his research has also focused in biomaterials science, drug delivery systems, nanotechnology and stem cell science./p>

Laurencin was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2011, which is among the nation’s highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. In addition, Laurencin was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the first practicing orthopedic surgeon to be elected to the two national academies.

High-resolution photo: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/laurencin_lab.jpg
Dr. Cato T. Laurencin of the UConn Health Center has been recognized by the Connecticut General Assembly for his contributions to the state and his leadership in bioscience innovations and research.

High-resolution image: http://today.uchc.edu/images/laurencin_citation3.jpg
Official citation from the Connecticut General Assembly in recognition of Dr. Cato T. Laurencin.

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