Deena Mousa conducted her first science experiment on her fifth birthday when her father gave her a plant seed and a pot of soil as a gift. Much to Ms Mousa’s dismay however, the plant did not grow. Rather than give up, the experiment piqued Ms Mousa’s interest and cultivated her desire to ask questions and find out more.

 

Today, at the age of just 17, this preference and thirst for knowledge has led to a remarkable discovery. Ms Mousa, born to Egyptian parents in Pennsylvania, has developed a liquid solution that stops wounds from bleeding in 10 to 12 seconds.

 

Called the Hemostat V Seal, the chemical compound developed by Ms Mousa has huge potential in the medical field as well as for the military where soldier’s wounds can be dealt with in just seconds. “When I was 15, I heard a statistic that shocked me: each year more than half a million people bleed to death,” she says.

 

Uncontrolled bleeding is one of the leading causes of deaths in hospitals around the world. According to the National Trauma Institute in the US, haemorrhagic shock is the second leading cause of death in people with traumatic injuries like deep cuts or gunshot wounds.

 

With heavy loss of blood, the organs in the body begin to shut down, potentially leading to death. Uncontrolled blood loss as a result of a traumatic injury is responsible for 35 per cent of pre-hospital deaths and more than 40 per cent of deaths within the first 24 hours. Even medical attention cannot guarantee survival as the top complications post-surgery are bleeding, infections and tissue damage.

 

“I found this particularly poignant because, while we may make rapid advances in surgical techniques, drugs and medical devices, if we are ultimately unable to carry them out without controlling the blood flow of patients, all of this progress will be for naught,” says Ms Mousa.

 

Instead of going out to the mall or spending time with her friends, Ms Mousa spent her weeks and after school hours studying haemostasis in a bid to discover a better way to stop bleeding.

 

“I eventually joined the Pharmaceutical Research Institute where I was trained by some of the best scientist in the field,” she says

 

It was at the Pharmaceutical Research Institute at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in New York that Ms Mousa spent two-years independently conducting research and developing the Hemostat V-Seal.

 

The Hemostat V-Seal works by accelerating the three stages of blood clotting that occur naturally in the body.

 

“They work synergistically to reduce the time needed for clot formation, in even the most severe of wounds,” says Ms Mousa.

 

Conventional methods for stopping severe blood loss takes up to 12 minutes to work, which results in the loss of several litres of blood. Most of the treatments in use today speed up only one of the three stages of blood clot formation.

 

Ms Mousa worked on a solution that targeted all three stages and developed a product within 18 months after trialling and testing several solutions.

 

Today, Ms Mousa is studying at Yale University in the US in the field of biology. As yet she has yet to decide a major, but is considering molecular, cellular and developmental biology.

 

“I am open to a number of possibilities, and aim to diversify my range of courses and experiences. I am ultimately interested in research, regardless of the field. I believe that knowledge production is the key to human progress,” she says.

 

Reaction to her work has been positive across the board, but there is still the need for clinical trials and approvals before it can be launched and administered to the public. Ms Mousa is also currently awaiting the results of her patent application for the Hemostat V-Seal.

 

“Scientists are optimists. It is important to believe in the potential of human ability and finding solutions in order to continue researching,” she says. “The science community has been and continues to be crucial in the development of my research and product.”

 

Her remarkable work has struck a chord within the science community and has earned her several awards including the NASA and Google’s Thinking Big Award. She is currently working towards gaining the US’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in a bid to commercialise the Hemostat V-Seal.

 

“[I] do hope that it has inspired young people to pursue their dreams, in science or otherwise, regardless of their age,” she says. “What I hope for more, however, is for there to be the ecosystem in Arab countries that enables teenagers like myself access to the right institutions and mentors.”

 

Ms Mousa demonstrates that innovation can come from anyone, at any age – with access to a good education and personal determination.

 

“What I hope my story has shown is that…young people need to be provided with the right resources so that they can contribute. I am convinced that the solutions to the most pressing challenges in our region lie within us,” says Ms Mousa.