Recent Rice University graduate Vanshika Jhonsa from the Rice 360 Global Technologies Program, mentored by Dr. Bindi Naik-Mathuria, received a prestigious American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) Innovation Award. The innovative research on “Improvised low-cost Silo bag using widely available materials to treat gastroschisis in low resource settings” could help save the lives of children worldwide. This addresses a huge global disparity, as survival for gastroschisis in most low-income countries is less than 5% whereas it is almost 100% survivable in high income countries. 

Message from Dr. Naik-Mathuria: 

“This work is a partnership with the Rice 360 Global Health Technologies program. I have been a clinical mentor for the bioengineering students for a few years, and this is the first product that we are actually going to produce at low cost for African surgeons to use.”