Topic: Regenerative Engineering: Opportunities in a New Convergence Field

Speaker: Prof. Cato T. Laurencin
　　　　　University Professor , University of Connecticut

Abstract:

We define Regenerative Engineering as a Convergence of Advanced Materials Science, Stem Cell Science, Physics, Developmental Biology, and Clinical Translation. Stem Cells play an important role. Work in the area of musculoskeletal tissue regeneration has focused on a number of paradigms. Polymer and polymer-ceramic systems can be utilized for the regeneration of bone. Direct induction can be controlled through material characteristics. Through the use of inducerons, small molecules fostering induction, the design of regeneration-inducing materials can be realized. We believe the medicinal use of stem cells will be of critical importance in the design of next generation systems answering grand challenges to musculoskeletal regeneration.

Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. is the 8th designated University Professor in the history of the University of Connecticut. He is Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery.  He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, UCONN’s cross-university translational Institute.

Dr. Laurencin earned a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.D., Magna Cum Laude, from the Harvard Medical School.

Named one of the 100 Engineers of the Modern Era by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Dr. Laurencin is a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, a Fellow of the Materials Research Society and an International Fellow in Biomaterials Sciences and Engineering. A practicing sports medicine surgeon, he was been named to America’s Top Doctors for over a decade.

Dr. Laurencin has forged a new field, Regenerative Engineering.  Dr.  Laurencin is an expert in biomaterials science, stem cell technology and nanotechnology and received the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, NIH’s highest and most prestigious research award, for his new field of Regenerative Engineering.

Dr. Laurencin has two awards named in his honor.  The Society for Biomaterials established The Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. Travel Fellowship Award given to underrepresented minority students pursuing biomaterials research and the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Institute and the National Medical Association established the Cato T. Laurencin Lifetime Research Achievement Award given at the opening ceremonies of the National Medical Association’s Annual Meeting each year.

Dr. Laurencin is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. He is an elected fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the Indian National Academy of Sciences, the African Academy of Sciences, and is an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.