One local student wanted to experiment with hemoglobin-- and she got real-life, hands-on experience at the local blood center for her award-winning science fair project.

Dr. Joann Moulds mentored Caddo Middle Magnet 7th-grader Codi Setters, and modified the first plan to comply with strict regulations at Lifeshare Blood Centers.

"We kind of adjusted her original idea, which was to see if we could detect different amounts of blood if they have different hemoglobin variants," said Dr. Moulds.

The result was an award-winning project, called "Got Blood?" Setters says it was an intense research process.

"Using blood with sickle-cell anemia in it to dilute and see if infected and uninfected can be seen at the same dilutions," Setters said.

Setters had the opportunity to work in the internationally-recognized immunohematology reference lab, to test her hypothesis. She says she wouldn't have been able to do it without Dr. Moulds's mentorship, and Lifeshare Blood Centers' support.