On Friday, July 22, the Institute for Regenerative Engineering held our 29th Annual Laurencin Labs dinner at the Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford. Over 60 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members attended. Also attending were the local high-school and college students who are spending part of their summers in the lab. The evening celebrated the outstanding research conducted in our laboratory during 2016 and included a discussion of the work planned for 2017.
Thank you to those who helped make this the dinner meeting so successful.
I am pleased to announce IRE faculty member Lakshmi Nair recently served as editor of a new book, Injectable Hydrogels for Regenerative Engineering.
Regenerative engineering, with its ability to foster novel therapeutic techniques and strategies, has emerged as the most versatile and innovative technology of the 21st century. The past few years have seen significant research interest in the design, preparation, and application of injectable hydrogels as advanced biomaterials for cell and factor therapy. This book is timely, providing a state-of-the-art summary of the status of injectable hydrogels in regenerative engineering. The collection of ten chapters written by experts in their fields presents an excellent overview of the subject for a wide audience. In my opinion, this book will be extremely useful as a reference source for all those working in the area of biomaterials, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and drug delivery.
It was a great pleasure to appear as a member of the study panel at the Convergence Report Release Event in Washington D.C. on June 24. The report, “Convergence: The Future of Health”, draws on insights from several dozen expert participants at two workshops, as well as containing input from scientists and researchers from academia, industry, and government. Their efforts have produced a wide range of recommendations for advancing convergence research. The report outlines three major disease areas — brain disorders, infectious diseases and immunology, and cancer — and promises convergence-based approaches to tackling them. It also presents case studies of four emerging technology categories: advanced imaging in the body, nanotechnology for drug and therapy delivery, regenerative engineering, and big data and health information technology. The report was co-chaired by Tyler Jacks, the David H. Koch Professor of Biology and director of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; Susan Hockfield, neuroscientist and president emerita of MIT; and Phillip Sharp, Institute Professor at MIT and Nobel Laureate.
The panel discussion is online, please watch the video.
On June 1, 2016, I had the honor of being inducted as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).
I was among a small number of new foreign members elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and it was a great pleasure to meet new colleagues and associates there.
A Chinese Academy of Engineering academician title signifies the highest Chinese academic achievement level in Engineering and Technology and a lifelong honor. It's a true honor for me to be elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering. I am deeply grateful to my mentors, colleagues, fellows, students, and friends who have inspired me through my career. I look forward to continue to work closely with the engineering community in China.
On May 24, I was very happy to receive the prestigious Connecticut Medal of Technology at the 41st Annual Meeting & Dinner of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE), at the University of New Haven. The Connecticut Medal of Technology is the State of Connecticut’s highest honor for technological achievement in fields crucial to Connecticut’s economic competitiveness.
It is wonderful to receive this recognition for the work I have been doing in Connecticut. Besides our work in science, we have started a number of successful companies here and have been able to reach back by working in STEM education in the state. I am particularly gratified that the state has recognized my work in making Bioscience Connecticut a reality. I wanted to thank those who nominated me and supported my nomination, including Provost Mun Choi here at the University of Connecticut. And, of course, thank you to my extended family, colleagues, and friends who have always supporting me and my vision over the many years.
On May 21, as part of the Connecticut Science Center Women in Science program, CICATS' Dr. Linda Barry, Assistant Director and Chief Operating Officer of CICATS, was giving the keynote speech for the #DaVinciCoder Girls-only Hack-A-Thon in Connecticut Science Center in downtown Hartford. During the speech, Dr. Barry talked about academic medicine still has low number in women and underrepresented minorities. She also shared her own story to becoming a surgeon. One of our missions is to collaborate in creating a learning environment where underrepresented minority individuals and women can thrive in STEM. We also encourage mentoring to support women throughout their academic and professional experiences, and supporting efforts to retain women in the STEM workforce.
On May 19th, 2016 I was extremely honored to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barrack Obama at the White House. This marks the third time I have received White House honors. I was the recipient of the Presidential Faculty Fellow Award from President Bill Clinton for work bridging engineering and medicine, and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring from President Obama.
Photos: National Science & Technology Medals Foundation, UConn Health, The National Academy of Inventors
In a press release issued by the White House, President Obama stated, “Science and technology are fundamental to solving some of our nation’s biggest challenges. The knowledge produced by these Americans today will carry our country’s legacy of innovation forward and continue to help countless others around the world. Their work is a testament to American ingenuity.”
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is America’s highest honor for technological achievement. I give thanks to my family, teachers, mentors, colleagues, and students for inspiring me each and every day. What has been accomplished on this journey is in large part due to them.
Since the announcement of my receiving the National Medal of Technology we have embarked on a number of new and exciting initiatives. These include the Hartford Engineering a Limb Project (HEAL), and the launch of our new Journal, Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine.
On May 31st, I had the honor of receiving a personal tour of the prestigious 301 Military Hospital in Beijing. The 301 Military Hospital is a direct subsidiary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Logistics Department. It is also the largest general hospital under the auspices of the PLA. Its mission includes assuring the health of PLA and China's leaders. The hospital has 125 clinical, medical and technological departments, and 4000 patient beds. The tour allowed me to see some of the key areas within the hospital. It is a very impressive building, and I was pleased I had the opportunity to tour this first class health facility.
Thank you to Professor Xiaobing Fu (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering), Professor Peifu Tang (Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery), and medical staff members of the 301 Hospital for hosting my visit.
On April 29, I was invited to present the distinguished lecture for the annual Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (NEAGEP) and Five Colleges STEM Diversity Day. NEAGEP is one of 26 NSF-funded programs in the U.S. It focuses on increasing the number of underrepresented minority students in STEM. In my speech, ‘Innovation and Leadership in Science, Engineering and Medicine’, I shared my story and talk about aspects of the convergence of innovation and technology. I enjoyed sharing some principles for success as well as my personal philosophies in terms of successfully developing and encouraging young people in the STEM field. It was a fascinating event. Thanks to UMass Amherst for hosting the event.
I am very pleased to announce the second issue of the Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine has been published. I thank all the editors, editorial board members, reviewers, and editorial staff. Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine is an international journal mainly devoted to the publication of original studies and research on regenerative engineering.
In this new issue, we have assembled an excellent selection of original articles. Dr. Justin Brown of Penn State University created a novel biodegradable scaffold system with unique crisscross fiber geometry for tendon and ligament tissue engineering. Dr. Dinesh Srinivasan of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore demonstrated the addition of silk fibroin and minocycline hydrochloride to polycaprolactone-based scaffolds potentially enhanced adipose-derived stem cells differentiation into osteogenesis. Dr. Samir Mitragotri of UC Santa Barbara developed novel peptide-based technologies for treating skin disease. Dr. Evan Scott at Northwestern reviewed recent progress in the use of nanomaterials designed to enhance imaging and therapeutic intervention of atherosclerotic inflammation. In addition, there is a News and Views article edited by Dr. Ali Khademhosseini of Harvard University.
On Friday, July 22, the Institute for Regenerative Engineering held our 29th Annual Laurencin Labs dinner at the Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford. Over 60 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members attended. Also attending were the local high-school and college students who are spending part of their summers in the lab. The evening celebrated the outstanding research conducted in our laboratory during 2016 and included a discussion of the work planned for 2017.
I am pleased to announce IRE faculty member Lakshmi Nair recently served as editor of a new book, Injectable Hydrogels for Regenerative Engineering.
