New Course in the Master’s program in Clinical and Translational Research

August 9, 2017

CICATS’s Master of Science Program in Clinical and Translational Research is offering a new course in Fall 2017, entitled “CLTR 5360: Critical Issues Involving Science Publication: The Scientific Review (3 credits, class # 17063).” The course will be taught by Cato Laurencin, MD, PhD; Helen Wu, PhD; Kevin Lo, PhD; and Jorge Escobar Ivirico, PhD. The course registration via Graduate School is open to clinicians, residents, medical students, MPH students and graduate students who are interested in clinical and translational research.

If you have any inquiries, contact Dr. Helen Wu.

IRE Receives a New NIH/R21 Research Grant

August 8, 2017

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

Institute for Regenerative Engineering faculty members Dr. Thanh Nguyen (PI) and I (Co-I) have received new funding from the NIH/NIBIB. This proposed project aims to study the science and technology which allow creating a biodegradable, highly efficient piezoelectric stimulator and integrating the stimulator with a biological chondrocyte-seeded cartilage graft to form a bionic self-stimulated cartilage tissue. We believe this bionic cartilage will be able to self-harvest mechanical impacts from joint forces, generating useful electricity to sufficiently stimulate and accelerate its own healing and regeneration process.

Congratulations to Dr. Nguyen on funding for this exciting project.

First Regenerative Engineering Science Café

July 30, 2017

1st Regenerative Engineering Science Café By Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

Sponsored by the Kavli Foundation and CICATS, the first Regenerative Engineering Science Cafe took place on July 6th at “Butchers and Bakers” in Farmington. It featured 6 exciting leaders in the field who discussed their work and visions in an interactive fashion. Over 40 students, faculty, researchers, engineers, clinicians, and staff attended the event. Regenerative Engineering is a new field which focuses on the convergence of advanced material sciences, stem cell science, physics, developmental biology and clinical translation for solving next-generation challenges in tissue regeneration.

I thank everyone at CICATS and IRE for their hard work to put together this amazing event.

1st Regenerative Engineering Science Café

Mentorship Science Café at UConn Health

July 18, 2017

Mentorship Science Café at UConn Health

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

On June 30th, CICATS kicked off this year’s Science Café Series with a focus of mentorship. Over 35 students, faculty, researchers, and staff attended the event in UConn Health’s Academic Lobby. Through engaging talks from invited speakers, the mentorship Science Café was an exciting and productive event.

CICATS strives to educate and nurture established, emerging and future scientists through its Science Cafe Series which is a Kavli BRAIN Event. Each month, the Science Cafe focuses on a specific topic. As a result of our previous success with “Kavli Coffee Hours”, the Kavli Foundation renewed and increased its support.

In addition to the Kavli Foundation, we thank our faculty, partners, affiliates, and the Connecticut Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus for their continuing support.

As the CEO of CICATS, I thank everyone at CICATS for their hard work putting together the CICATS Science Café series.

For more information about upcoming Science Café events, please visit: http://cicats.uconn.edu/science-cafes/

Mentorship Science Café at UConn Health

CICATS announces new cohort of the M1 Mentorship Award Program

July 12, 2017

The Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at UConn, a cross-university translational institute, has announced its next cohort of the M1 Mentorship Award Program.

The aim of the M1 Mentorship Award is to develop a cadre of accomplished investigators who will participate in cultivating an academic environment that elevates mentorship to a discipline with consistently high standards and practices. The program focuses on the recruitment and mentorship of underrepresented students at all stages of the academic pipeline.

The M1 Award recipients, selected through a peer review process, include:

“I am pleased to welcome this next cohort of M1 Mentors, comprised of yet another talented group of faculty representing UConn and UConn Health,” said Dr. Cato Laurencin, chief executive officer, CICATS. “Mentorship is a fundamental component of student success, and I look forward to the impact from our mentors across CICATS and the UConn community.”

The inaugural cohort of the M1 Mentorship Award Program included Dr. Anne Delany and Dr. Syam Nukavarapu, UConn Health faculty, and Dr. Elaine Choung-Hee Lee, a faculty member from UConn Storrs.

Each M1 Award recipient utilizes program funds to guide and lead the development of their mentees towards becoming academic scientists. The activities focus on promoting the development of these students starting in high school through to junior faculty. CICATS aims to expand the M1 Mentorship Award Program nationally, using this model to promote pipeline development at other academic institutions.

For additional information about the M1 Award, please contact Lana Angelo at langelo@uchc.edu, or visit our website at http://cicats.uconn.edu/m1-mentorship-award-program/.

Regenerative Engineering Science Cafe featured notable panel

July 11, 2017

The first Regenerative Engineering Science Cafe took place on Thursday, July 6 at local restaurant “Butchers and Bakers” in Farmington to a large crowd. The Cafe panel, facilitated by Paulos Mengsteab, included six exciting leaders in the field who discussed their work and vision in an interactive fashion: Dr. Lakshmi Nair, Dr. Yusef Khan, Dr. Joseph Walker, Dr. Thanh Nguyen, and Dr. David Gardiner. Over 40 people, including students, faculty, researchers, engineers, clinicians, and staff attended the event.

Regenerative Engineering is a new field focusing on the Convergence of Advanced Material Sciences, Stem Cell Science, Physics, Developmental Biology and Clinical Translation for solving next generation challenges in tissue regeneration. This event was sponsored by the Kavli Foundation.

You can view photos from the event in our photo gallery.

Science Café on Mentorship kicks off monthly series

July 10, 2017

On June 30, we held our first 2017 Science Café Series: A Kavli BRAIN Event with a program featuring a focus on mentorship. Over 35 people, including students, faculty, researchers, and staff attended the event which was held in the Academic Lobby of UConn Health.

A panel of two faculty mentors: Dr. Nicholas Leadbeater and Dr. Bill Zempsky, and three students: Archibald Agyekum-Yamoah, Aiyana Ponce, and Obum Umerah shared their experiences as mentors and mentees guided by moderator, Lauren Branche. Through engaging conversation and audience questions, the Mentorship Science Café was well-received and generated positive feedback from attendees.

To view photos from the event, visit our photo gallery.

IRE’s Lakshmi Nair Inducted as National Academy of Inventors Fellow

June 19, 2017

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

In April, Dr. Lakshmi Nair was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) at its 6th annual meeting in Boston. She is one of the youngest individuals to be elected to the NAI, and she is the third person (preceded by Dr. Pramod Srivastava and me) to be elected from UConn. Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded solely 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. Nominees must be a named inventor on patent(s) issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and must be affiliated with a university, non-profit research institute or other academic entity.

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. She currently serves as a tenured associate professor of orthopedic surgery and is associate director for science administration at the Institute for Regenerative Engineering. In addition, she is also a faculty member of biomedical engineering, materials science and engineering at UConn.

CICATS’ Science Cafes highlighted in the Hartford Business Journal

May 8, 2017

In the May 8 edition of the Hartford Business Journal, staff writer John Stearns highlighted the CICATS Science Cafe concept and how it played a role in funding the research of Dr. Pramod Srivastava.

Science Cafes, which are hosted by CICATS’ Core Interest Groups, are informal events designed to engage the public with interactive discussions in the topic area of the host CIG, and increase opportunities for collaborative research. To learn more about CIGs or Science Cafes, please click here or contact Dr. Kevin Lo.

Here’s the full article from the Hartford Business Journal.

New Faculty Member Joins the IRE

May 1, 2017

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

I am very pleased to announce Dr. Jorge Luis Escobar Ivirico, a postdoctoral fellow in our lab, has been appointed Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering at UConn Storrs and also as a faculty member in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering. After earning his BS in Chemistry, and MSc in Materials Science from the University of Havana, Jorge earned his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Valencia (Spain). He was a postdoctoral fellow in both Spain and Germany. In Fall 2015, he joined the IRE under my supervision. He has a multidisciplinary technical background focused in biomimetic materials and biomaterials, drug delivery, cell-material interaction, nano/micro technology, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Speaking for the IRE faculty, we are very excited to have Jorge assume this new role.