Sir Cato Laurencin, elected to TWAS in 2006, is a professor of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, and biomedical engineering at the University of Connecticut (UConn). In May this year, he was awarded the Bioactive Materials Lifetime Achievement Award, an annual accolade established in 2021 to recognize excellence in research and development in the field of bioactive materials.
The ceremony took place in China, during the Westlake Advanced Regenerative Medicine Engineering Conference, the first international meeting highlighting the impact of regenerative engineering, a field Laurencin founded and where he is a pioneer.
Laurencin earned his Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering at Princeton University. Then he obtained his medical degree magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School, and his PhD in biochemical engineering and biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Spanning three decades, his work has brought seminal contributions to engineering, nanotechnology, and the regeneration of bone, ligaments, and other musculoskeletal tissues.
He serves as CEO of the Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, an inter-university institute at UConn named in his honour. His career is marked by numerous awards, including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, presented in 2016 by United States President Barack Obama, the National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award, and the National Science Foundation Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Grant Award.
At UConn, Laurencin holds professorships in orthopaedic surgery, chemical and biomolecular engineering, materials science and engineering, and biomedical engineering. He is the founder of the Regenerative Engineering Society and an elected fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.