2022 Diversity Award of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS)

At its 2022 annual meeting, the AAOS presented the 2022 Diversity Award to Dr. Cato T. Laurencin (University of Connecticut) for his commitment to making orthopaedics accessible and more representative of diverse patient populations.

Dr. Laurencin is University Professor and the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UConn School of Medicine. For more than 40 years, Dr. Laurencin's work in promoting racial and gender diversity has resulted in the establishment of programs that continue to diversify the field of orthopaedic surgery.

“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,” explains MaCalus V. Hogan, MD, MBA, FAAOS, from the University of Pittsburgh McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, “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. 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.” (see full article in UConn Today)              

Diversity Leadership at the National Level

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

Source: AAOS Now, Read full article at  https://www.aaos.org/aaosnow/2022/thursday/youraaos/youraaos03/