Dr. Cato T. Laurencin

Orthopedic surgeon and professor Dr. Cato Laurencin was born on January 15, 1959, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Dr. Helen Moorehead-Laurencin and Cyril Laurencin. He received his B.S.E. degree in chemical engineering in 1980 from Princeton University and his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. degree in biochemical engineering and biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987. He completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Surgery Program and his fellowship in sports medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

Dr. Laurencin began his teaching career in 1981 at Harvard University in cellular biology, microbiology, and genetics. He joined MIT as an instructor of biochemistry in the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science Program in 1985 and instructor of physiology in the Introduction to Health Sciences Program in 1986. He then worked as a surgical house officer at Pennsylvania Hospital. In 1988, he returned to Harvard Medical School and MIT in various teaching and research capacities. He became the chief resident in orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital in 1993. In 1994 Dr. Laurencin became a research professor of chemical engineering and materials engineering at Drexel University and an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the Allegheny University School of Medicine. In 1998, he became a professor at the Medical College of Pennsylvania–Hahnemann School of Medicine. Dr. Laurencin became vice chairman and clinical professor of orthopedic surgery and director of shoulder surgery at the Drexel University School of Medicine in 2002. He became a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering and of orthopedic surgery at the University of Virginia in 2003. Dr. Laurencin joined the University of Connecticut in 2008 as professor of biomedical engineering, materials science and engineering, and chemical and biomolecular engineering and a distinguished professor of orthopedic surgery, becoming a University Professor in 2011, when he also became director of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical, and Engineering Sciences. He also founded Soft Tissue Regeneration, Inc. (later Biorez), that year and the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science in 2009, later the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering, of which he is CEO. Dr. Laurencin co-edited the 2013 textbook Regenerative Engineering and has served as editor-in-chief of Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine.

Dr. Laurencin’s awards include the Presidential Faculty Fellowship Award presented by President Bill Clinton, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring presented by President Barack Obama, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s Pierre Galletti Award, the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers’ Percy Julian Medal, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation presented by President Barack Obama, the National Academy of Engineering’s Simon Ramo Founders Award and the National Academy of Medicine’s Walsh McDermott Medal, and the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Dr. Laurencin and his wife, Cynthia Laurencin, live in Connecticut. They have three children.

Dr. Cato Laurencin was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 7, 2022.