The delivered AAMP Conference talk of UConn Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin M.D., Ph.D., K.C.S.L. entitled “Addressing Health Disparities in a New Era of Challenges and Opportunities” underscored the importance of combatting racial and ethnic health disparities in America and around the world.

Laurencin completed the Program in African American Studies at Princeton University and is a core faculty member of the Africana Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, published by Springer Nature, a leading journal of the field. He co-founded the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute, dedicated to addressing health disparities, and served as its founding chair. The W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute and the National Medical Association established the Cato T. Laurencin Lifetime Research Achievement Award, given during the opening ceremonies of the National Medical Association meeting. He is a recipient of the Herbert W. Nickens Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges recognizing his work advancing social justice and fairness. In receiving the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, its highest award, he was named as the world’s foremost engineer-physician-scientist.

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

Laurencin is active in mentoring, especially underrepresented students.  He is responsible for creating a number of pathway programs at UConn including the Young Innovator Investigator Program (YIIP). He received 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 in ceremonies at the White House. The Society for Biomaterials established The Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. Travel Fellowship, in his honor, which is awarded to underrepresented students pursuing research.

Laurencin is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is the first surgeon in history elected to all four of these academies. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.