University of Virginia Health System

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, an expert in shoulder and knee surgery and international leader in tissue engineering research, has been named the Lillian T. Pratt Professor and chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Virginia. Laurencin has also been named one of only fifteen University Professors at U.Va. In addition, he will hold professorships in biomedical engineering and chemical engineering. His appointment was announced by Dr. Arthur Garson, Jr., dean of the U.Va. School of Medicine.

“In academic medicine the triple threats is a rare person who can do utterly outstanding patient care, state-of-the-art research in addition to extraordinary medical education for the physicians of tomorrow,” Garson said. “Cato Laurencin is the rarest in that he is a quadruple threat adding administrative and public service skills as well. We are highly fortunate to have him with us.”

Laurencin was clinical professor and vice-chairman of orthopaedic surgery at the Drexel University College of Medicine and director of shoulder surgery at Hahnemann University Hospital. In addition he was the Helen I. Moorehead Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he directed the Center for Advanced Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering.

He earned his B.S.E. in chemical engineering from Princeton University, and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and earned the Robinson Award for Excellence in Surgery.  Simultaneously he earned a Ph.D. in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a Hugh Hampton Young Scholar.

After completing his doctoral programs, Laurencin continued clinical training at the Harvard University Orthopaedic Surgery Program, and ultimately became chief resident in orthopaedic surgery at the Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School.  Simultaneously, he was an instructor in the Harvard–M.I.T. Division of Health Sciences and Technology, where he directed a biomaterials laboratory at M.I.T. He completed a clinical fellowship in sports medicine and shoulder surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, working with the team physicians for the New York Mets and St. John’s University in New York.

Board certified in orthopaedic surgery, Laurencin is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He has lectured throughout the world in the areas of shoulder surgery and biomaterials science as an American British and Canadian Traveling Fellow, and has been an instructor in shoulder surgery at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ Orthopaedic Learning Center. 

Laurencin’s research interests are in the areas of biomaterials, tissue engineering, drug delivery and nanotechnology.  Honored at the White House, he received the Presidential Faculty Fellowship Award from President William Clinton in recognition of his research work involving biodegradable polymers. 

Laurencin is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and has been named an international fellow in biomaterials science and engineering. He most recently received the William Grimes Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Leadership in Technology Award from the New Millennium Foundation. 

Currently, Laurencin is vice-speaker of the House of Delegates of the National Medical Association, and a member of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) Council at N.I.H. He also has been named to the National Science Board of the Food and Drug Administration. 

“It is my privilege to lead the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Virginia,” Laurencin said. “The department has a rich clinical and academic history while the University is clearly one of the outstanding centers of our country. I am particularly impressed by the vision of the leaders of this institution.”

April 4, 2003