Dana Al-Sulaiman: Saudi Female Engineer Wins International Award for Inventing a Cancer Detecting Chip
Saudi Arabian women have long been a creative workforce that has influenced the entire area through their abilities to invent, become great scientists, and win important awards. This is due to their dedication, foresight, and determination, which have compelled the Saudi government to pursue their demands in every way imaginable. This is now being seen around the country, as more prizes and recognition are being given out to pay tribute to their incredible achievements.
As new achievements emerge, medical advances will continue to play an important role in the evolution and development of any country’s scientific and medicine sector. In medicine, cancer is one of the most perplexing diseases that doctors all over the world have yet to solve because no true solution has been discovered. Isn’t it, however, critical to first detect this disease and then research its progression and strategies to develop medicine to combat it? Dana Al-Sulaiman has done precisely that!
Al-Sulaiman is a Saudi engineer who works as an Assistant Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and has received the ‘Innovators under 35’ award for designing a chip that detects several types of cancer within the human body. The purpose of this award is to recognize technical specialists for their remarkable accomplishments in various fields.
Due to the traditional and painful methods for detecting cancer that has been used over the years, Al-Sulaiman was inspired to think outside the box and develop a small chip made of microneedles covered in a substance that is placed on the skin and can then absorb liquid and detect cancer biomarkers in an easy and an efficient manner.
This is a remarkable achievement that will highlight Saudi women’s strength and competence, not just in the arts, but also in science and medicine, two critical aspects of any society’s progress. We believe that one day, thanks to the innovative brains of women in the region, we will be able to entirely eradicate cancer and gain a better understanding of the disease.
