The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering’s Healing Power of Music Series was held recently in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin, MD, Ph.D. provided opening remarks to introduce the series and thanked and congratulated Dr. Kenneth Alleyne who organized the event. The Jazz on the Vineyard event featured a performance by the Christie Dashiell Quartet with Grammy-nominated vocalist Christie Dashiell. Dashiell’s album, “Journey In Black” was nominated for a Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy Award and deemed a “masterpiece” by Downbeat Magazine.

The event benefited Student Achievement Through Opportunity (SATO), a nonprofit organization founded by Dr. Kenneth Alleyne and Dr. Shaun Biggers-Alleyne. The group’s focus is on underprivileged middle school children, who attend charter schools in the Hartford area. SATO works with charter schools to bring academic and cultural enrichment opportunities to students, as well as exposure of students to college.

The Healing Power of Music Series was created by Professor Laurencin to promote the Institute’s work in regenerative engineering and its efforts to study how music may influence tissue regeneration. Music has long been a source of comfort, inspiration, and entertainment for people around the world. Recent research suggests that it may have even more profound benefits.

The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering houses a number of mentorship programs—including the Youth Innovative Investigator Program (YIIP), A Scientific Program in Regenerative Engineering (ASPIRE), the M-1 Mentorship Program and the NIH funded T32 Doctoral Training with a focus on underserved communities. Laurencin created and established these programs that help develop generations of innovative scientists by providing academic training and mentorship to individuals dedicated to pursuing careers as scientists and scholars in medicine, biomedical science, and engineering.

Laurencin received the Community Service Award from the Urban League of Greater Hartford. In Connecticut he has been honored by the Hartford Public Schools, the West Indian Foundation, and the Connecticut State Legislature for his work in the community and has been recognized as a Connecticut Health Care Hero by Connecticut Magazine. Internationally active,  Sir Cato T. Laurencin received Knighthood under the auspices of King Charles III of England on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and the Government of St. Lucia.

At UConn Laurencin is the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UConn School of Medicine, professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He is the Chief Executive Officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, a cross-university institute created and named in his honor at the University of Connecticut.