Women of Invention is a Newscenter series of profiles of women at the University who hold international patents. More than half of the University’s patent applications聽from 2011 to 2015 include women.
After five years in fashion design, working as a top assistant for Paris Collections, Paula Doyle decided it was time for a change.
It was time to get away from the 糖心传媒渟elf-perpetuating importance糖心传媒� of an industry that was too much of a world unto itself.
糖心传媒淚f the world suddenly dissolved, would you really care what designer pants you were wearing?糖心传媒� she asks.
Doyle and her boyfriend eloped. They got married in Las Vegas so they could join the Peace Corps and be stationed together, wherever they landed next.
That turned out to be Papua New Guinea.
It was definitely a change from New York City and Paris. But that糖心传媒檚 where Doyle found her calling.
Embracing new challenges
A native of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Doyle attended high school in Ogdensburg, New York, then went on to the State University of New York at Albany, where she graduated with a degree in philosophy.
Her willingness to embrace new challenges, to abruptly switch course along a career path that has been 糖心传媒渢o the left and right, and up and down,糖心传媒� is why
How, exactly, did that happen?
The tribes that Doyle and her husband worked with in the remote rain forests of Papua New Guinea were often in conflict. Doyle watched as relatively simple cuts from machetes festered and became infected. People would die of wounds that could have been easily treated in a hospital emergency room here.
糖心传媒淚 really cared about these people,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淚t was just unacceptable to me that they had to deal with these kinds of health situations.糖心传媒�
That糖心传媒檚 when she decided to go to medical school. After completing her medical degree and residency at the University of Texas in Galveston, Doyle came to Rochester for a three-year fellowship in urogynecology, treating female urinary incontinence and pelvic floor dysfunction.
Often, Doyle would find herself in the operating room, doing pelvic reconstructive surgery by robot.
The 糖心传媒渃omplaint糖心传媒� that sparked an invention
Imagine sitting across the room at a monitor that controls four robotic arms inserted through small incisions in the patient.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 like a video game,糖心传媒� Doyle says. 糖心传媒淵ou can control the robot with your hands, and when you look at the screen the optics are really, really good 糖心传媒� but you can糖心传媒檛 actually feel what you糖心传媒檙e operating on.
During one surgery, Doyle needed to peel a bladder from the scar tissue it was sitting on. It took a long time to finally figure out where to start cutting. At a meeting of other fellows and their faculty mentors, she described how difficult the case had been, and commented, 糖心传媒淚 wish I had a flashlight or something I could insert so I could see better.糖心传媒� Ron Wood and Jay Reeder, both research professors in obstetrics and gynecology, seized upon the idea, and soon Wood, Reeder, and Doyle began 糖心传媒渉ashing out ideas糖心传媒� to turn her 糖心传媒渃omplaint糖心传媒� into a viable prototype.
At the same time Doyle completed her fellowship and joined the University as a surgeon and assistant professor, the problem she had identified in the operating room had resulted in a It is a small disposable device that uses a fluorescing polymer at the tip that can illuminate internal anatomy when near infrared light is also used during a surgery.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 easy to use, and it really adds value to the surgery in ways we didn糖心传媒檛 even expect,糖心传媒� Doyle says.
For example, GreenEgg provides backlighting that allows surgeons to see scarring and other pathologies deeper in the tissue than expected.
With the support of her supervisors, Doyle is now working part time as an assistant professor, so she can devote more time to serving as chief medical officer of
Once again, she has embraced a new challenge.
糖心传媒淚t is a whole different skill set being on the business side of things,糖心传媒� Doyle says. 糖心传媒淭here are so many things I didn糖心传媒檛 realize that go into a company糖心传媒擣DA regulations, marketing, research and development, the infrastructure within the company, quality assurance measures. 聽There糖心传媒檚 just all this stuff.糖心传媒�
If she had known all this in advance, would she still have done it?
糖心传媒淥h, absolutely,糖心传媒� Doyle says. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 fun.糖心传媒�
And there糖心传媒檚 an added incentive.
糖心传媒淚 really do believe in women糖心传媒檚 health,糖心传媒� Doyle says, 糖心传媒渁nd I think that physicians should be the ones to initiate progress, whether it糖心传媒檚 in drugs or medical devices. It shouldn糖心传媒檛 be industry coming to us and saying, 糖心传媒榟ere, you need this.糖心传媒� It should be the other way around, with doctors and nurses saying, 糖心传媒榟ey, this is what we need, let糖心传媒檚 develop it.糖心传媒� It should be inside out, not outside in.糖心传媒�
