NC A&T State students develop next-level wound dressing

NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY

Woundra, a biorenewable wound dressing prototype developed by graduate students at North Carolina A&T State University, was presented at the Innovation Venture Expo at Delaware State University.

Graduate researchers at North Carolina A&T State University have developed a sustainable wound dressing that could be an upgrade over traditional bandages.

Woundra, developed by nanoscience and nanoengineering doctoral students Hoda Motaghed, Kayla Morgan and Vaishnavi Kandula as well as agriculture and environmental sciences master’s candidate Mahshid Eghbali, presented a laboratory-scale prototype at the Innovation Venture Expo at Delaware State University. The showcase hosted by the 1890 Center of Excellence for Emerging Technologies focuses on advancing scientific innovation and economic development.

“Woundra is my baby and our tagline for the product is, ‘Woundra heals with care, is powered by nature, and is perfected by science,’” said Motaghed, the team’s leader who completed her first semester in the doctoral program after earning a master’s after the spring semester. “Since I was a teenager, I was always curious about skin products and researched how they help people and from then on, I told myself, ‘You will be the one who is going to produce your own skin products. And here I am now.”

The Woundra team was awarded development resources to support the continued growth of their prototype at DSU’s College of Agriculture, Science and Technology. The assets include funding support, technical mentorship, access to lab or maker-space facilities, and other tailored assistance aligned with the project’s needs. 

“It has been such a joy to mentor Hoda,” said Michael Curry, principal investigator at director of the Curry Intelligent Materials Innovation Lab at A&T’s Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering. “It’s very rare for a first-semester Ph.D. student to have a prototype, let alone enough knowledge about the product, how it works and how it can be commercialized.”

The wound dressing, which blocks infection and heals wounds faster before the wearer can get medical help, addresses clinical and agricultural health challenges by combining the healing properties of biodegradable polymers like cellulose engineered for controlled antimicrobial release, cellular compatibility and environmental safety. 

NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY

Woundra consists of a biorenewable hydrogel (clear vial); biorenewable hydrogel with healing agents (darker vial) and biorenewable patch with healing agents.

Woundra’s primary target market includes farmers and other workers in the agricultural space who suffer deep wounds as the result of everyday tasks. The goal is to make Woundra affordable enough to go into an emergency kit. 

Niya King Ph.D., and Demetrius Finley, Ph.D., engineering postdoctoral fellows with the National Science Foundation and the American Society for Engineering Education, mentored the Woundra team and helped the A&T team navigate the entrepreneurial process from lab research to innovation pitch.

“Dr. Michael Curry’s mentorship model creates safety for the type of exploration, not only that he does, but he helps our students do in the lab, as well as creates a safe space for failure.,” said King, director of special academic programs at A&T’s College of Engineering and Curry’s former postdoctoral fellow. “As a mentor once told me, it’s not always a loss; sometimes it’s a lesson. This mindset allows us to learn, grow, and be better prepared for what’s next.”

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