The Books Author Marketing Team with Taylor and Francis were lucky enough to have Dr. Laurencin answer a few questions regarding this prestigious award, his experience working within the engineering field and with Taylor and Francis.
1. Congratulations on winning the 106th Spingarn Medal of the NAACP. This is a great honor. What do you want your audience to take away from your accomplishment?
It’s a great honor, and I hope to carry on the legacy of those before me who received this, including Martin Luther King Jr, George Washington Carver, and Maya Angelou.
2. You have been involved in several publications with Taylor and Francis. What has encouraged you to continue working with us? And do you have plans for future books or projects in your series?
It’s a pleasure to work with Taylor and Francis. We published the first textbook on Regenerative Engineering, my new field. We now have launched a series on Regenerative Engineering and hope to have new books in the next year.
3. What are the main developments that you are seeing in your area of expertise, and how do your books relate to these advances?
We define Regenerative Engineering as the Convergence of advanced materials sciences, stem cell science, developmental biology, physics, and clinical translation. Developments in all these fields are important, but is our ability to have comprehensive knowledge of these fields and bring them together that is important.
4. Is there one piece of research included in the books which surprised you or challenged your previous understanding of the topic?
No not one piece, I have been fascinated by our ability to bring together disparate areas of science to create new science and new ways of thinking.
5. Who has influenced you the most?
My family. My father, a union carpenter and my mother, a doctor and trailblazer in medicine, science and the community, taught me Black excellence and Black resilience. I also thank my wife and children for their ongoing support. My mentor Bob Langer has been hugely instrumental in my career.
6. What first attracted you to your area of study?
My mother’s innovation and ability to bring together medicine, science and the community is what first attracted me to become a doctor and establish the field of regenerative engineering building on Convergence.
7. What would you say is your most significant research accomplishments?
I think I’ve had a number of firsts with my team. Creating nanofiber technology suitable for tissue regeneration was a first. Creating polymer-ceramic composite systems for bone tissue regeneration was another first. The design of soft tissue systems that successfully regenerated tissue in the knee in humans was another first.
The founding of the field of Regenerative Engineering was a first.
Our new firsts include the development of a whole new class of stem cells that we call Synthetic Artificial Stem Cells or SASC Cells.
Another first is that I and my group discovered a new set of cells in Salamanders that we think can foster limb regeneration. There are GRID Cells (Groups that are Regenerative, Interspersed and Dendritic).
8. What advice would you give to an aspiring researcher in your field?
Be smart, be hardworking. Be a good person, Be Courageous and be Resilient. Walk with people who are smarter than you and learn from others. Celebrate your successes 10 times more than any setbacks you may encounter. That’s some of the advice I give from my new book “Success is What you Leave Behind” which is my autobiography, now available.
9. What do you feel has been a highlight for you, in your career?
Being the first surgeon in history to be elected to all four national academies: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors. Also being awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, which is America’s highest honor for technological achievement at the White House, awarded by President Barack Obama.
Receiving the Hoover Medal, given by all the principal engineering societies in America for my humanitarian work.
And of course receiving the Spingarn Medal, where I was named the foremost engineer-physician-scientist in the world.