February 2025 Journal Club: Cato Laurencin, MD, PhD

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February 14, 2025

JRGOS Journal Club

Black Lives Matter in Science Engineering and Medicine: Cato T. Laurencin, MD, PhD: Winner of the 2020 Herbert W. Nickens Award of the Association of American Colleges, Acceptance Remarks

J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2020 Dec;7(6):1021-1034.doi: 10.1007/s40615-020-00924-2. Epub 2020 Nov 18. PMID: 33206357; PMCID:PMC7673252.

Cato T. Laurencin, MD, PhD

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin accepting the National Medal of Technology & Innovation from President Barack Obama in May 2019.

Cato T. Laurencin, MD, PhD, was honored with the 2020 Herbert W. Nickens Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges. His acceptance speech, published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, introduces the I.D.E.A.L. pathway, a framework focused on advancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism and Learning.

A distinguished member of JRGOS, Dr. Laurencin is the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Connecticut. He also holds faculty positions in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering. Additionally, he serves as the CEO of The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering and as Director of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical, and Engineering Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Laurencin is the inaugural recipient of the JRGOS Augustus A. White III, MD, PhD, Founders Award 2024.

Interest in concepts about racism fluctuate with increased attention around elections and a dramatic increase around the time of George Floyd’s death. This is the basis for Dr. Laurencin’s thesis “that to truly combat health disparities in Blacks and to truly have Black diversity and equity exist, we must understand and combat racism.”

In Dr. Laurencin’s remarks, he outlines the extensive history of racism in America and makes note that “it’s important that there is not a revisionist history of slavery and the degradations that took place during that time” as 85% of Black history is entrenched in slavery and legislated inequality.

Dr. Laurencin advocates that we move past discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and instead move towards Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism, and Learning (IDEAL). Learning is a critical aspect of the IDEAL pathway which involves understanding how Black people are affected by anti-Blackness and “moving from just an ally to what I would call a ride or die partner in the anti-racism movement.”

Dr. Laurencin argues that combating health disparities in Black Communities requires addressing systemic racism. To learn more about the IDEAL pathway, read Dr. Laurencin’s full acceptance speech in the article linked below.

Dr. Laurencin will be presenting the JRGOS 2025 Founders Award to

Charles H. Epps, Jr., MD at the JRGOS Annual Awards Luncheon,

March 13, 2025 at the Academy in San Diego.