AAOS Diversity Award Bestowed Upon Cato T. Laurencin

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has conferred its 2022 Diversity Award upon Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., FAAOS. The Diversity Award recognizes AAOS members who have distinguished themselves through their commitment to diversifying orthopedics, from both the patient and provider standpoints. 
 
“I am very proud to receive this award,” said Dr. Laurencin, the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at University of Connecticut. “It recognizes my longstanding work promoting racial justice and equity, and gender equity in the profession and worldwide.”
 
The sum of those affected by Dr. Laurencin’s mentorship and work is immeasurable, according to MaCalus V. Hogan, M.D., FAAOS, from the University of Pittsburgh McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Laurencin’s 40 years of work promoting racial and gender diversity has spanned science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and has helped establish programs designed to diversify orthopedic surgery and medicine in general for future generations.
 
“Dr. Laurencin has been a torch bearer for diversity, lighting the path into this field that we all hold so dear, and he has done it for so many who otherwise may not have considered, seen, or have had the opportunity to be part of this great profession,” said Hogan.
 
Dr. Laurencin’s efforts began in the 1980s at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was assistant director of the Harvard Summer Health Professions Program, which trained Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students. His efforts continued at Allegheny University and Drexel University where, as a professor of orthopedic surgery, he funded and supported scholarships for Black and Latino women students.
 
Soon thereafter, Dr. Laurencin became chairman of orthopedic surgery at the University of Virginia. He was the first Black surgeon and only the second Black chair in the history of the university. Some of Dr. Laurencin’s most significant contributions to diversifying the field occurred during his tenure as chairman, according to Hogan. During this time, Dr. Laurencin acted with intent in the recruitment of BIPOC and women into the residency training program and faculty.
 
“Dr. Laurencin was the driving force behind improving and taking this department to be one of the top programs in the country both on a clinical and research level,” Hogan said. “His department was going to be a department that represented and reflected the diversity of the world we live in and was completely inclusive of all.”
 
Under Dr. Laurencin’s leadership, the number of BIPOC student applicants for externship orthopaedic surgery rotations rose exponentially, along with the number of applicants and interviews for orthopaedic surgery rotations. With more than 50 percent Blacks, Latinos, and women, the orthopaedic surgery program set a standard for other residency programs within the university—and nationwide.
 
“Several underrepresented minorities and women from that era are currently residency program directors, vice chairs, and division chiefs at programs throughout the country. They, too, are now making strides to further diversify of our field,” added Hogan.
 
Continuing his career at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Laurencin further committed himself to building and fostering diversity initiatives. His work includes:

• Founding the Young Innovative Investigator Program, which recruited underrepresented students to the university for a two-year intensive mentoring and research experience that paved the way toward MD, PhD, or MD-PhD training.
• Serving as the site principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) BUILD (Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity) Initiative grant program, which invites five Latinx students each year to come to the university for intensive mentoring and research experiences.
• Heading an inaugural site for the National Science Foundation Research, Experience and Mentoring Program, which invites BIPOC high school students, college students, and teachers to his institute.

Dr. Laurencin has worked to foster diversity not only at his institutions, but at the national level:

• As speaker of the house for the National Medical Association (NMA), which is dedicated to supporting Black physicians and the patients they serve, he worked to develop the National Research Mentoring Network.
• He helped to institutionalize the NIH/NMA Fellows Program, helping innumerable Black residents enter academic careers.
• He cofounded the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute, which was designed to address health disparities and promote diversity in all its forms.

In recognition of his work, Dr. Laurencin has received numerous awards, including the J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society Alvin Crawford Mentoring Award; the Association of American Medical Colleges Herbert W. Nickens Award; the Beckman Award for Mentoring; the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mentor Award; and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, awarded to him in ceremonies at the White House by President Barack Obama. He has served on the Board of Directors of the J. R. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society, and he launched and serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Disparities.
 
Dr. Laurencin is revered as an extraordinary clinician and scientist, according to Hogan. “His work and efforts have guided our profession and have set a path for the future,” he said.
 
Dr. Laurencin received his medical degree (Magna Cum Laude) from the Harvard Medical School and remained at Harvard to complete his residency in orthopedic surgery, serving as chief resident. He completed a fellowship in sports medicine and shoulder surgery at Cornell University/The Hospital for Special Surgery and also earned a doctorate in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from MIT.
 
With more than 39,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is the world’s largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. It provides education to help orthopedic surgeons and allied health professionals best treat patients. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments, and related musculoskeletal health care issues, and it leads the healthcare discussion on advancing quality.