By Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

As the CEO of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS), I congratulate the Young Innovative Investigator Program (YIIP) scholars who earned their master degrees in biomedical science from the UConn Graduate School. Under the direction of Dr. Linda Barry, CICATS Assistant Director and YIIP program director, the program’s aim is providing academic training to underrepresented minorities who are dedicated to pursuing careers as scientists and scholars in the biological and biomedical sciences. The ultimate goal is developing the next generation of innovative biomedical scientists while incresing diversity in the current pool of academic scientists. YIIP provides tools for scholars to conduct research, succeed in an academic environment, and become competitive candidates for medical or graduate school. All of our YIIP scholars conducted basic scientific research in a UConn Health lab under the direction of their assigned faculty. Simultaneously, they completed graduate level studies. I am proud of their achievements and look forward to their successes! Thank you to all our faculty and staff who contributed to the success of the program.