Hannah Herbst presents at TEDxDornbirn. Screen capture from YouTube.

Hannah Herbst had an eventful childhood.

She was 12 years old when she programmed a robot for the first time, at a science camp where she was the only girl. She was 13 when she invented BEACON (Bringing Electricity Access to Countries Through Ocean Energy), a device that helps convert ocean waves to electricity, inspired by her penpal in Ethiopia who told her about the lack of energy available there.

At 14 she was awarded the title America’s Top Young Scientist. At 15, she presented BEACON to Barack Obama at the White House Science Fair.

When she was 17, her father was diagnosed with cancer and given a 30% chance to live.

And at 18, she did something about it.

In 2017 after he had surgery for his cancer, Hannah’s father got a surgical site infection (SSI). This happens when the skin, organs, or tissues around the incision area become infected. Shockingly, SSIs and their adverse effects cost the United States more than $3 billion every year, and are also a big contributor to superbugs due to over prescription of antibiotics. Superbugs are expected to cost the United States more than $100 trillion dollars and millions of lives by 2050.

Just for some extra impact, this is what $100 trillion looks like with all its 0s:

$100,000,000,000,000

“I knew at this point I wasn’t equipped to tackle cancer research,” she said in her most recent TEDTalk. “However, I thought I could take on the issues of infection that my dad and so many others were dealing with post operatively.”

Hannah saw an opportunity.

Before her father’s diagnosis, Hannah was studying the properties of shark skin at Florida Atlantic University’s biomechanics lab (before she even finished high school). She learned that due to the microscopic shapes their skin is made of, sharks are often immune to the negative effects of bacteria buildup (also known as “biofouling”). Shark skin has very tiny, invisible to the naked eye, triangle-shaped scales. These also help the shark swim faster as they help reduce drag on the body. In other words, it helps the gross stuff slide right off instead of hanging out on the skin and causing an infection.

via GIPHY

Hannah was so inspired by the fearsome fish that she spent the summer of 2018 researching its skin and its potential use in a healthcare setting. She won first place in the translational medical science category at the 2019 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her project “Sharks Take a Bite out of Infection! And Antibacterial, Reusable Bandage for Post-Operative Patients,” which she is currently developing as part of a year-long entrepreneurial program she was invited to take part in.

As part of this program, she is studying biomimetic materials, which are designed to copy useful characteristics found in nature using synthetic products. So she’s not using actual shark skin as a bandage, she is researching ways to use non-animal materials to be like the shape and structure of shark skin to give it the same protective properties.

Hannah has traveled all over the world to present her research and give keynote speeches, and she continues to be a bold leader in her field. She’s been featured in Forbes, FAST Company, WIRED, USA Today, BBC News, Huffington Post, Teen Vogue, Reader’s Digest, and many other publications. Hannah Herbst is a public health hero, and she has only just begun.

