Her Story
About Mona
I pursued a career in cancer research because I wanted to make a meaningful contribution to helping patients battling this disease.
I earned my PhD through a scholarship at Humboldt University in Berlin (2014–2017), where my research focused on oxidative stress and its role in cancer. During this period, I also received additional training at the University of Oviedo in Spain. After completing my PhD in 2017, I undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Southern California (USC), followed by a second postdoc at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I then joined Zincor, where I contributed to cancer drug discovery and development. In 2022, I joined Johnson & Johnson, where I have been working for nearly five years.
My expertise lies in analytical chemistry and mass spectrometry. In my current role, I lead structural analysis to ensure that drug candidates and compounds have the correct identity and structure. I also conduct targeted research on critical drug properties — for example, I recently published a paper on cell permeability to confirm that therapeutic molecules can effectively enter cancer cells. The rigorous training I received during my academic and postdoctoral years built a strong foundation in protein analysis and the biochemical mechanisms underlying cancer.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Mona
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a deep passion for helping others — specifically, the drive to improve outcomes for cancer patients. This purpose fuels everything I do: it motivates my daily work, shapes my research questions, and keeps me committed to developing better therapies.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received came during my postdoctoral years at USC. My mentor told me: “Passion will get you through the door, but persistence and curiosity will keep you in the room — and ultimately lead to impact.”
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My biggest piece of advice is to own your expertise and speak up with confidence, even when you’re the only woman in the room or the most junior person at the table.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the greatest challenges in cancer drug discovery and development today is overcoming treatment resistance while accelerating the translation of promising compounds into effective therapies for patients.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that guide me most strongly are integrity, compassion, and perseverance.
In my work, integrity is non-negotiable. As an analytical chemist using mass spectrometry for structural analysis, I am responsible for ensuring that every compound and drug candidate is exactly what it claims to be. There is no room for shortcuts when patients’ lives are on the line. Compassion drives everything — it’s the reason I entered cancer research in the first place. I constantly remind myself that behind every data point, every experiment, and every publication is a patient and a family hoping for better treatment options.
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