Suzen DuBre has built her life around curiosity. Not the kind that comes and goes, but the kind that pushes someone to master some of life’s more challenging endeavors.

Over the years, she has learned to fly an airplane, become a Class A golf professional, worked as a residential building contractor, vetted companies for private equity and venture capital firms, and even operated a flower farm in Lewes.

“I’m curious enough to try different things,” she said. “And competitive enough to strive to be good at them.”

That drive developed in her childhood growing up on a farm in Millville, N.J. An accomplished athlete, Suzen became the New Jersey state champion in the 400-meter hurdles, earning a track scholarship to Monmouth University before eventually transferring to University of Delaware.

It was there Suzen not only met her husband, but during her senior year capstone project, her work with John Kerrigan, owner of Reliable Home Inspection Service, would leave a lasting impression. Years later, Suzen and her husband, Darryl, would pay that mentorship forward through their own company, Marins Inc. To date, they have mentored five groups of university students whose projects have directly influenced systems and innovations still used by the company today.

For Darryl, however, Marins is more personal. At 19 years old, he lost his left arm below the elbow, becoming what is medically known as a left-sided transradial amputee.

“I married into the prosthetics business,” Suzen likes to joke. But behind the humor were years of frustration for Suzen and Darryl as they found the devices available on the market simply did not meet his needs.

That frustration became their impetus for innovation and a device they believe can literally change the lives for people who have suffered an upper limb amputation. Together, the couple developed the ProHensor VCAL, a prosthetic device that is modular, body-powered, voluntarily closing, and automatically locking – the first device of its kind on the market. Additionally, the ProHensor can be serviced in-clinic, a major advantage for clinicians and patients alike.

The device itself is complex, but easy for the patient to use. Its 56 individual components are sourced from suppliers around the world before final assembly takes place at the company’s Georgetown facility. That global supply chain, however, brings challenges of its own. Shifting tariffs and international trade create uncertainties that can dramatically affect the life of a small business.

Unlike diseases such as cancer or heart disease, there is no comprehensive registry tracking upper-limb amputees in the United States. Suzen estimates that about 17% of amputees are upper-limb amputees, translating to approximately 4,000 above-the-wrist amputations each year. About 75% of those patients are men, most losing limbs through traumatic injuries. What is known, however, is that existing prosthetic technology often falls short. Nearly half of upper-limb amputees eventually abandon their devices altogether because of discomfort, limited control or lack of usability.

The DuBres believe their device can change that. After years of research and development, the ProHensor officially entered the market this year with FDA registration in the United States and the equivalent certification in Europe. 

One of the company’s first major success stories came from South Africa, where a commercial pilot lost his arm in a motorcycle accident. Previous prosthetics failed to allow him to regain the control necessary for him to return to flying. But after being fitted with the ProHensor, he successfully passed the required physical examination and was able to resume his career as a pilot. Understandably, there is now great interest among prosthetists across South Africa who are eager to access the technology for their own patients.

But innovation alone does not guarantee success in the medical device industry. One of the DuBres' greatest challenges has been reimbursement. Convincing insurance providers to pay for a more advanced body-powered device when they are accustomed to paying for older, less sophisticated technologies is not easy. And reimbursement for the prosthetists themselves is also an ongoing struggle, as securing payment approval remains elusive.

Despite those hurdles, Marins Inc. recently began vendor onboarding with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, enabling veterans who lost the use of an arm while serving their country to have this new technology.

As Suzen looks into her crystal ball, she hopes the ProHensor will eventually become the standard of care for use when fitting an upper-limb amputee with a body-powered prosthetic device. 

When asked what advice she would give her 18-year-old self, Suzen didn't hesitate. She would worry less about mapping out a perfect career path and focus more on understanding what and who truly matters.

“The best things in my life have come from who I love and what I love," she said.