One day in a simulation lab during her emergency medicine residency at the George Washington University, Liz Clayborne, RESD ’15, was performing a mock procedure on a mannequin’s face—specifically its nose—when she realized how useful it would be if there were a device that would stop the bleeding so she could more quickly proceed to higher acuity problems. Just a clip that holds pressure and some medicated sponges would do the trick, she thought.
But no such product existed, and she was forced to build a makeshift device that included taped-together tongue depressors.
“I remember thinking that there should be something that helps people manage their nosebleeds that could be used at home, and the vast majority of these patients would probably not even need to come to the ER,” said Clayborne, an emergency physician and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Maryland Medical System.
More than 500,000 people annually visit the ER for a nosebleed, often simple in nature but instinctively difficult to manage at home. People tend to put their head back instead of forward, as doctors recommend. They pinch their nasal bridge instead of the soft area just above their nostrils. And, because nosebleeds are most common at more vulnerable ages such as children between 2-10 or older adults ranging from 55-80, the persistent bleeding often leads to ER trips, adding to the patient load of emergency physicians who are already tightly packed with urgent matters.
But unlike when Clayborne was in residency, there is now—thanks to her—a patented nosebleed treatment available at home available to those would-be ER patients, clinics, physicians and healthcare professionals. She developed a novel nosebleed device as a resident and in 2015 was awarded the NSF I-Corps grant that helped launch her company, NasaClip.
The adjustable device, which her company sent to market in late 2023, is made up of two soft sponges and a small clip that provides constant but comfortable pressure to the correct anatomic area. Think of NasaClip as the Band-Aid for nosebleeds that can be stocked in households, schools, hospitals, sports facilities and more.
“It’s a win-win because NasaClip is giving people a doctor’s solution to nosebleed rescue but conveniently places it in the pocket of anybody in any setting, so that they can get control of their nosebleed and go on with their day and avoid having to come see me in the ER,” she said.
To date, she has raised over $3.5 million in funding and was awarded an NSF SBIR Phase I grant for $256,000, and in 2023 the company received at total of $750,000 in start-up investments from Maryland’s Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), an independent entity created by the Maryland General Assembly in 1998 to help support business and economic opportunities across the state.
Clayborne said that many early clinicians and residents have great ideas because they see the problems in their clinical work, but they often never make it past the simulation lab because they are not trained in where to go with a formed idea.
At GW, however, Clayborne was able to utilize mentors such as [former AVP] Jim Chung and the NSF I-Corps program through the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE), as well as advisor and SMHS Professor of Emergency Medicine Neal Sikka, who eventually connected her with co-founder Romil Patel, B.S. ’15. Clayborne also points to a GW business plan competition, now known as the New Venture Competition, as an important exercise in understanding the business perspective of innovation.
She is also grateful to people at GW for continuously encouraging her own self-belief and confidence, something that would be tested along the nine-year journey from idea to market launch.
For a while, Clayborne put the idea on the backburner as she balanced being an emergency academic physician with teaching responsibilities, a mother and the challenges of being a Black woman in entrepreneurship—highlighted in a 2022 study published in Forbes that showed Black women-led companies typically receive less than 1% of all venture capital investment.
Clayborne was six months pregnant when COVID-19 hit in spring 2020, and she served as a spokesperson for emergency physicians during the height of the pandemic doing national media about her experience as a pregnant frontline provider. After her child was born, she enrolled in the TEDCO accelerator program during her maternity leave to resurrect NasaClip. And thanks to her appearances on network television, her story spread.
Lo and behold, she finished the TEDCO program with the capital and executive support she needed to get her company off the ground, leading to the eventual 2023 launch.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) even lauded her work, drive and commitment during his State of the State address last February.
“As a woman of color, she struggled to find capital to get her idea off the ground….Dr. Clayborne doesn’t give up,” Moore said at the annual address in Annapolis. “She raised enough money to start her business. And today, she is the founder and CEO of her own medical device company that’s focused on helping children and families.”
The work continues, both for herself and for future generations. Clayborne hopes NasaClip’s continued success will allow her to support and inspire budding entrepreneurs of all backgrounds. She is passionate about giving back and believes that, unlike nosebleeds, the free flow of ideas should never be stopped.
“So many brilliant ideas don't see the light of day because they don't have early access to funding, because they don't have a mentor, or they don't have a visible figure that they can see that allows them to believe that they can make a path to success for their idea or their innovation,” Clayborne said. “It's important for me that I can reach back and give those opportunities to demographics that historically have not had access to capital.”
