KENNEWICK — A decade or so ago, Dr. Sariah Khormaee was a Harvard Medical School student who already had earned a doctorate in chemical engineering and biotechnology.

Deeply interested in health equity, she’d traveled to Vietnam to observe surgeons repairing broken bones in challenging settings.

The surgeons were happy to explain.

The surgical “nail” they were implanting in bones — and the training they received to carry out the procedure — were provided by SIGN Fracture Care International, a nonprofit medical manufacturer in Khormaee’s home state: Washington.

Khormaee was floored.

The Vancouver native had never heard of Richland-based SIGN.

Its global, humanitarian mission is to treat injuries in developing counties where untreated bone injuries can be catastrophic or even fatal for

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