Mentoring, Mother’s Influence Lead to Success for Laurencin
His career has taken him to the forefront of musculoskeletal care and research, recognition by the White House, national prominence, and the helm of the UConn Health Center as the vice president for health affairs. However, the inspiration that started Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. down the road of medicine was provided by his mother, who operated a clinical practice and research laboratory on the first floor of the family’s row house in North Philadelphia.
It is in her name and honor that Laurencin and his wife, Cynthia, have now created a fellowship for UConn School of Medicine students. The Helen I. Moorehead-Laurencin, M.D. Research Fellowship Fund supports students who have demonstrated achievement and are involved in conducting research projects. He says the emphasis on research perfectly matches his mother’s passion for understanding the science of medicine.
“My mother was the ultimate clinician and scientist; an urban clinician-scientist, really. She was a superb clinician and, at the same time, someone who kept a small laboratory in the back of her office,” Laurencin says. “The goals of our gift are consistent with everything she had done in her life.”
The fellowship addresses the other area of focus of Moorehead-Laurencin’s life: ensuring that young people have a mentor. Recipients must provide mentorship to an inner city high school student in the Hartford region. Laurencin says that his mother sought out and assisted many young people, encouraged them to pursue medicine and science, and counseled those around her.
“It really was amazing to watch,” he says. “She had a personal commitment to the next generation, to young people and their careers. So it felt naturally appealing to me to include a mentoring component in our fund, because of the influence that was there. I believe that, in many ways, an academic environment requires mentoring for success.”
Laurencin still owns his mother’s medical bag (photo, right), which was in turn given to her by an earlier member of the family who graduated from medical school in the late nineteenth century.
In addition to contributing a major gift to create the fund, Laurencin will also utilize an additional $10,000 presented to him as a recipient of the 2009 Presidential Awards for Excellence for supporting student research experiences. The award recognizes individuals who have successfully mentored underrepresented students studying science or engineering.
Laurencin cites the support of many mentors throughout his own career. While he always knew he would be a clinician, the influence of his mother and mentors forced him to “look at the breadth of opportunities that were available,” he says.
“Mentoring relationships are important throughout one’s career, and I understand the benefits of being on both sides of the experience,” he says. “While we’ve started this fellowship, obviously others can contribute to it as well, and I would welcome them to do so.”