Her Story
About Norhan
My journey into science began with a pre-med track in college, as I was always very interested in healthcare and helping people. Back in 2015, I started volunteering in a research lab just to beef up my CV, but I actually really enjoyed the research side of the healthcare industry. I felt like I was really doing some work that would contribute to public health from a larger perspective, so I decided to switch routes and stay within the scientific field, pursuing my PhD instead. Throughout my career, I've been passionate about women's health - my PhD work focused on bacteria and host-pathogen interactions within the human vaginal tract, and I've done work with fertility and pregnancy-related diseases as well. Now as a senior scientist at Kronetics, I work in preclinical research developing new animal models to test novel compounds for rare endocrine diseases before they reach clinical trials. One of the aspects in my career that I enjoy the most is mentoring other scientists, and everyone I've mentored has actually been women in the scientific field. I like to joke that I'm kind of a perpetual student, because science is forever changing, forever evolving, and there's always new research coming out, so I'm always studying up on new methods and reading the newest papers.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Norhan
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say that it is very rewarding. It's a lot of hard work that pays off, and it's an amazing opportunity to work on something that could directly impact somebody's life in a positive way. There are so many patients that need treatments for diseases that there are no treatments available for, so it's a really impactful job. Science used to be one of the more male-dominated fields, but now the trends that you're seeing, there are more women who are getting their PhDs and entering grad school than men. So we're really kind of on the brink of this evolution for women entering these scientific fields, and I really am excited to see these women get these higher-level positions over time. It's a really exciting time to be a woman entering the field. There's so many of us, and I would love to help any women kind of start on that journey.
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