Author: Melanie L Burnat

IRE’s Lakshmi Nair Elected NAI Fellow

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

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

I am very happy to announce Dr. Lakshmi Nair has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Dr. Nair is one of the youngest individuals to be elected to the NAI, and she is now the third person (preceded by Dr. Pramod Srivastava and me) to be elected at UConn. She currently serves as a tenured associate professor of orthopedic surgery and associate director for science administration in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering at UConn Health; and also as a faculty member of biomedical engineering, materials science and engineering at UConn.

Election to NAI Fellow status is “the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.” Dr. Nair’s novel research focuses on the development of new therapies using regenerative biomaterials to enhance tissue repair and regeneration, including innovative ways to regrow musculoskeletal tissue.

In April, Dr. Nair will be inducted during NAI’s 6th Annual Conference which will take place at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. With the election of the 2016 class, she is now one of 757 NAI Fellows, representing 229 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Nair.

Inaugural Regenerative Engineering Society Meeting

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

Rock Stars of Regenerative Engineering

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

The National Academy of Engineering hosted the inaugural meeting of the Regenerative Engineering Society on December 10 and 11 in Irvine, CA. Sponsored by both the National Science Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the meeting took place at the Beckman Center. The theme of the meeting was “Rock Stars of Regenerative Engineering” and featured four leaders in the field who discussed their work. The “Rock Stars” included: Rui Reis of University of Minho (Portugal); David Gardiner of University of California, Irvine; Ali Khademhousseini of M.I.T.; and Roderic Pettigrew of NIH/NIBIB.

This was indeed an historic event for the Regenerative Engineering Society, an organization that works to push the boundaries of how we think about regeneration through the creation of a community that knows no bounds. On behalf of the organizing committee of the Regenerative Engineering Society, I want to thank and congratulate everyone who participated. I look forward to our next Rock Stars meeting, and to further building our membership.

Rock Stars of Regenerative Engineering    Rock Stars of Regenerative Engineering

Kate Hayden of CICATS Receives 2016 40 Under Forty Award

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

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

Kate Hayden of CICATS Receives 2016 40-Under-Forty Award

I was happy to learn Kate Hayden, Research Facilitator and Community Outreach Coordinator for CICATS, has been named one of the Hartford Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty for 2016. As a CICATS team member, Kate has led the planning of multiple health disparities projects. She is also expanding our connections with community organizations for outreach events and education, which lead to partnerships for community-based participatory research grants.

Presented in September at the Connecticut Convention Center, the 40-Under-Forty Awards recognize outstanding young professionals in the Greater Hartford area who excel in their industries. They are driven by success, motivated by challenges and are role models for their peers. These individuals are part of an outstanding class of up and coming business leaders who share a commitment to business success, personal growth, and community involvement.

Please join me in congratulating Kate.

Indian National Academy of Engineering

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

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

I am happy to announce I was elected a Foreign Fellow by the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) for the outstanding accomplishments bridging engineering and medicine. This was the second time I was honored by India. In 2015, the Indian National Academy of Sciences also elected me as a Foreign Fellow. I am so fortunate to be the first American-born scientist elected to both academies. I am honored to be recognized by my colleagues and peers in. I am also honored to represent the University of Connecticut, demonstrating to the world the great level of science that is present at our school. I look forward to further collaborations with the talented engineers and scientists of India to advance knowledge in the service of mankind.

Presentation of the Nominees for 2016 Prix Galien USA Best Medical Technology

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

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

Last month, I had the pleasure of presenting the nominees for the 2016 Prix Galien Best Medical Technology Award in the Prix Galien USA Gala Awards Ceremony at New York City’s Museum of Natural History. The Prix Galien was created in 1970 in France by a pharmacist named Roland Mehl. It honors Galien, the father of medical science and modern pharmacology. Prizes are awarded for products and agents that improve the human condition. The Prix Galien USA awards prizes for therapeutics, including Best Pharmaceutical Agent, Best Biotechnology Product, and Best Medical Technology approved by the FDA in the past five years. The Prix Galien is considered to be the industry’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize and is the highest accolade for pharmaceutical research and development.

It was a great honor for me to serve on the Galien Foundation Committee. The presentation is online.

2nd Annual National Health Disparities Elimination Summit

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

The 2nd Annual National Health Disparities Elimination SummitBy Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

On October 29, the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at UConn, in partnership with the Connecticut Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute, hosted the second National Health Disparities Elimination Summit here at UConn Health. The summit’s theme was “Living in America Today,” and its goal was bringing stakeholders together to provide important information and resources to eliminate health disparities.

This year’s summit took a holistic approach and focused on how different environments are creating or exacerbating health disparities. Discussions surrounded physical environments such as the Flint, MI water crisis; health care environment and the role of diversity in improving outcomes; and social environment including societal structural issues such as gun violence. Where people live matters! Health care providers, politicians, community leaders and individuals can all positively impact their environments, resulting in improved health outcomes in their communities.

The hours of planning and execution invested in this event were recognized by all the attendees, and I was told by several people how impressed they were by this year’s summit. I want to thank everyone for the work and the commitment to excellence.

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students

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Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority StudentsBy Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

I was honored to serve as the keynote speaker for the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Tampa, FL on November 10. ABRCMS is the largest professional conference for underrepresented minority students in STEM. The theme for the meeting was “Diverse Voices, Diverse Science: A Future of Excellence in STEM Research.” My lecture, “Regenerative Engineering: The Future of Tissue Regeneration” highlighted the increasing convergence between engineering, biology, and medicine. This meeting was packed with undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students, graduate students and postdoctoral scientists and faculty, program directors and administrators. Thanks to ABRCMS for inviting me to participate in this important conference.

Rock Stars of Regenerative Engineering

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

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

I am pleased to announce that the Regenerative Engineering Society will present the first “Rock Stars of Regenerative Engineering Conference.”

The conference is being hosted by the National Academy of Engineering at the Beckman Center in Irvine, California on December 10 and December 11, 2016.

The Regenerative Engineering Society is a new society focusing on the convergence of areas including advanced materials, stem cell science, physics, developmental biology and clinical translation for solving next generation challenges in tissue regeneration. The society recently has joined with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and is now one of its communities.

The Rock Stars of Regenerative Engineering will feature seven current exciting leaders of the field who will discuss their work in an interactive fashion. Poster sessions will allow younger investigators to interact, while there are plans to bring high school students to the meal events to allow networking with them.

We are excited about this new and innovative approach to the phrase “scientific meeting.” The conference is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

The call for poster abstracts is now open. Abstracts can be submitted through https://aiche.confex.com/aiche/rsre16/cfp.cgi.

Regenerative Engineering Society

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

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

I am delighted to officially announce the launch of Regenerative Engineering Society. The mission of the Regenerative Engineering Society is to promote and advance regenerative engineering, a field defined as the Convergence of Advanced Materials Sciences, Stem Cell Sciences, Physics, Developmental Biology and Clinical Translation for the regeneration of complex tissues and organ systems. With the new society we want to bundle our expertise on a national level. This will not only allow us to enhance our capabilities in the U.S. but this will also contribute towards enhancing our visibility internationally.

The founding leadership of the Regenerative Engineering Society are: Dr. Cato Laurencin from University of Connecticut (Chair), Dr. Lakshmi Nair from UConn Health (Secretary), Dr. Yusuf Khan from University of Connecticut (Treasurer), Dr. Ali Khademhousseini from MIT (Board), Dr. Kevin Lo from UConn Health (Board), Dr. David Gardiner from University of California, Irvine (Board), and Dr. Guillermo Ameer from Northwestern University (Board).

For more information, please visit the society’s website at http://www.aiche.org/resociety

Speaking at the American Chemical Society Committee on Minority Affairs Luncheon

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

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

Last month, I was really honored to be the keynote speaker the American Chemical Society’s Committee on Minority Affairs Luncheon in Philadelphia. I discussed my thoughts on developing students to work in the area of STEM. My parents inspired me to study medicine and engineering so I hope by speaking at the American Chemical Society, I can encourage and insprire many young people to follow my path.

The Committee on Minority Affairs (CMA) aims to lead change in institutional culture within the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the chemical enterprise and achieve full participation and expression of intellectual and creative capacity of underrepresented minorities.

Speaking at the American Chemical Society Committee on Minority Affairs Luncheon