[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S8544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       KATHERINE BOMKAMP AND WVU

 Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President. I wish to recognize Katherine 
Bomkamp, a promising sophomore at West Virginia University, WVU, who 
invented a new prosthesis that reduces phantom pain for amputees, 
including many returning veterans. Last month, she was in New York City 
being honored by Glamour magazine as one of its ``21 Amazing Young 
Women of 2011,'' to celebrate the 21st anniversary of its Women of the 
Year awards.
  At the age of 16, following frequent visits to Walter Reed Army 
Medical Center while her father was stationed at the Pentagon with the 
U.S. Air Force, Katherine conceptualized the ``pain free socket,'' a 
prosthetic device that combats the phantom limb pain experienced by 80 
percent of amputees. After two-and-a-half years of research, Katherine 
is now at West Virginia University, where the WVU Entrepreneurship 
Center is helping her obtain a patent for the device and find funding 
to make it available for injured veterans and other patients. The WVU 
Entrepreneurship Center is playing an important role in helping 
Katherine commercialize the ``pain free socket.'' It is a great example 
of how America's research universities are supporting innovative 
entrepreneurs, whose ideas are vital to economic growth today.
  Ms. Bomkamp didn't just sit on the sidelines and feel sorrow for the 
afflicted men and women she encountered at Walter Reed. She listened to 
their stories and learned that many amputees experienced phantom pain, 
the feeling of pain in an absent limb.
  By researching the topic, Katherine found that no medications have 
been approved for specifically treating phantom pain. Instead, many 
amputees are prescribed antipsychotics and barbiturates, treatments 
that can be expensive and highly addictive.
  For a 10th-grade science project, Katherine decided to leap into 
action. She created the ``Pain Free Socket,'' incorporating thermal 
biofeedback into prosthetics to eliminate phantom pain in amputees. 
Phantom pain is caused by the brain continuing to send signals and 
commands to the limb. Bomkamp's device would help force the brain to 
focus on the heat produced through thermal biofeedback, rather than 
sending signals to the nonexistent limb.
  Katherine Bomkamp deserves our praise and educational enrichment. She 
was the first WVU student to be inducted into the National Museum of 
Education's National Gallery for America's Young Inventors. Now that 
she is one of the ``21 Amazing Young Women of 2011,'' the sky is the 
limit for what she might achieve.
  Success stories such as this one show us that academic and student 
innovation are alive and well at universities such as WVU, and promise 
a brighter future for all Americans. It is essential that as we in 
Congress review our budget priorities, even in the midst of today's 
financial pressures, we continue--or even expand--our support of higher 
education and students like Katherine Bomkamp.

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