NMA Colloquium

May 12, 2016

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

On March 4-6, the National Medical Association (NMA) hosted its 17th National Colloquium on African American Health in National Harbor, Maryland. This year’s theme, “True North Toward Health Care Equity: Clinical, Policy, and Social Determinants” conveyed the NMA’s objective to eliminate the health disparities in our country. The event also focused on the clinical, policy, and social determinants of health and impact on individual opportunities to earn a good living, live and work in a safe and healthy environment, and effectively use available social service and health care resources to optimize and maximize health care and disease prevention. This event attracted more than 200 health professionals interested in the pressing issues facing patients, healthcare providers and community leaders. I was among the many distinguished keynote speakers providing remarks aligned with the theme. The event was incredibly successful. Thank you to staff members at NMA particularly Dr. Edith Mitchell, the 116th president of NMA, for organizing such a wonderful event.

BME Senior Design Team

May 9, 2016

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

I am so proud to announce that my BME Senior Design Team which includes Dwight Meggie, Julian Rose, Alexandra Stowe, Nathan Eckhardt won the first place certificate for the 2016 Senior Design Project Award. The project entitled “Harnessing Healing: Mechanical Isolation of Adipose Derived Stem Cells for Clinical Applications” sought to evaluate a mechanical method to rapidly harvest adipose tissue and adipose derived stem cells that can be used within a patient to help regenerate the cartilage. Currently, the most prevalent method to isolate adipose derived stem cells is utilizing an enzyme, collagenase, to breakdown the extracellular matrix but this has limited clinical applications. Thus there is a need for a mechanical isolation method. Several isolation methods were tested to isolate stem cells using fresh adipose tissue from rats. This project has the potential to improve human health as it is aimed at regenerating deteriorated cartilage which affects a multitude of patients.

The senior design project is an extremely important part of the BME curriculum at UConn. Through the program, our students work with sponsors or faculty advisors as part of a project aimed at designing and fabricating a new system in order to solve a real world problem. Each year during Senior Design Day, each team is eligible to win prizes based on a judging panel. The winners are announced at the end of the Senior Design Day.

Julian, Dwight, Alexandra, and Nathan, great job!

The Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Goes Bimonthly

May 5, 2016

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

I am happy to announce our flagship journal, The Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, will move from quarterly publication to bimonthly, starting in 2017. Since its official launch in July 2013, we have received an impressive number of high quality submissions from scholars all over the world. We have published articles in all areas of racial and ethnic health disparities. Importantly, our journal was accepted for indexing by PubMed/Medline in October 2015.

The Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities will continue to update the community on new research findings, commentaries, insights, and discussions that are relevant to the health disparities. I congratulate all our associates: editors, editorial board members, reviewers, and editorial staff for their outstanding work in achieving this milestone.

Speaking at Johns Hopkins University

May 3, 2016

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

On March 17, it was a great pleasure to give a talk at Johns Hopkins University as part of its Postdoctoral Affairs Lecture Series. During my visit, I met with a number of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in educational and training programs related to bone regenerative engineering. While postdoctoral fellows and graduate students have become the backbone of the research enterprise, we share responsibility for providing them with appropriate research training and career development guidance. I really enjoyed sharing some principles for success and personal philosophies in terms of successfully developing young people.

Speaking at NIH

On March 16, it was a great pleasure and, even more, an honor for me to speak at NIH in Maryland as part of the Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS). WALS is the highest profile lecture program at NIH, with each session including some of the pioneers in biomedical and behavioral research. The title of my speech was “Bone Regenerative Engineering: A Convergence Approach,” and I detailed many aspects of our regenerative engineering work including the HEAL Project. Many thanks to NIH for inviting me. I also want to thank them for continuous support on our research programs here at UConn Health.

2016 Joint Annual Southeast/Southwest Regional Meeting

April 26, 2016

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

Last week, I had the honor and privilege of being the main keynote speaker at a regional meeting organized by the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). The theme for the meeting is STEMulating Innovation from Discovery to Application. This regional meeting provided numerous opportunities to learn from peers and colleagues about their latest scientific findings in the STEM fields. My keynote lecture, “Regenerative Engineering: Theory and Practice” was held at the Louisiana State University. The object of my lecture is to highlight the increasing convergence between engineering, biology, and medicine. This meeting was packed with technical and professional development sessions, and industrial spotlights. Thank you to Dr. Marsha Cole, NOBCChE Southwest Regional Chair, for organizing such a nice meeting

Visiting University of Sydney

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

I had the great pleasure of visiting the University of Sydney and met with Dr. Chrzanowski Wojciech, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Pharmacy. Dr. Wojciech is a world-renowned scientist in biomaterials science and engineering. During the visit, I saw the extraordinary work that Dr. Wojciech’s team has been doing in biomaterials and drug delivery devices development. I also shared about our new HEAL project at IRE. Thank you to Dr. Wojciech for hosting me at the University of Sydney. I look forward to possible collaborations in the future.

The Stan Simpson Show with Dr. Linda Barry

April 25, 2016

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

On April 16, Dr. Linda Barry, assistant director of CICATS, was invited to Fox 61 Hartford’s “Stan Simpson Show.” During the interview, Dr. Barry discussed CICATS’ novel Young Innovative Investigator Program (YIIP) which increases diversity among the next generation of doctors and scientists. She also mentioned YIIP’s program for biomedical scientists, stressing the need for more students of color to pursue research to cure diseases rooted in the Black community. Thank you to UConn Health Communications and Kate Hayden for working to arrange such a great interview.

Watch the Video

Planning Session to Defend Against the Zika Virus

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

As an elected fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, last month, I was chosen as 1 of 15 people to attend the Global Research Collaborative for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R) in Washington, DC. GloPID-R is a network of research funding organizations in the area of infectious-disease preparedness. By pooling research funding organizations on a global scale, they can facilitate an effective research response within 48 hours of a significant outbreak of a new or remerging infectious disease with pandemic potential. The high-level discussion session was led by Line Mathiessen of GloPID-R and Nicole Lurie, M.D., MSPH, the US Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. My role on the discussion panel was to provide recommendations on mapping out a global plan to deal with the Zika virus running rampant in South America and Latin America. I found the planning session challenging and look forward to further discussions.

Honored at Chinese Consulate in New York

April 14, 2016

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

On March 17th, I was honored at a gala event at the Consulate-General of the Peoples’s Republic of China in New York City. The award was bestowed on me by Zhang Qiyue, Consul General of China in New York, to note my work fostering U.S.-China relations in the scientific community. Last year, I was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. I am the first foreign member from the United States to be elected in the field of biomaterials and one of the youngest foreign members to be elected in its history. I look forward to working with scientific community in China. Thanks to everyone at the Chinese Consulate for organizing the gala dinner.