Her Story
About Rajaa
I have had quite a journey over my 20-year career in biopharmaceuticals. I started as an assistant professor at the University of Petra in Jordan, teaching pharmacokinetics and biopharmacy while also serving as chairman of the bioequivalents committee at the Jordan Food and Drug Administration. When I moved to the USA almost 20 years ago, adapting to the work market was my biggest obstacle, especially coming from the Middle East and trying to find a job based on my specialty. It was quite challenging and I had many hurdles at that point, but I managed to find my path through perseverance and support from my family, who encouraged me not to give up until I found the right path for myself. I gradually moved up the ladder, starting at Genentech as a pharmacokinetic scientist, then becoming a senior pharmacokinetic scientist at Protagonist, then manager for DMPK at Orenza (an AI-driven biopharmaceutical company), then director for DMPK and clinical pharmacology at Bridge Bio, and now I am a Senior Director of Research DMPK at Cytokinetics, where I have been for 3 and a half years. Throughout my journey, I have accomplished significant milestones at each stage. At Orenza, I introduced to the AI how it plays a role in drug discovery at early stage, which is right now a new era in AI and drug discovery. In Bridge Bio and Cytokinetics, I managed to support NDA where 3 drugs reached patients for rare diseases, and at Cytokinetics I managed to support reaching a compound to HCM (heart cardiomyopathy) disease for a huge population of patients all over the world.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rajaa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my perseverance and support from my family, who encouraged me not to give up until I found the right path for myself. When I moved to the USA almost 20 years ago, adapting to the work market was my biggest obstacle, especially coming from the Middle East and trying to find a job based on my specialty. It was quite challenging and I had many hurdles at that point, but through perseverance and family support, I managed to find my path, and right now I'm a senior director.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice I've ever received is to keep my eyes on the ball and not to be distracted with too many noise happening in your work. This has helped me stay focused on what really matters throughout my career.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to them not to give up. I try to reach out to different people, and keep your communication channel open. Don't hesitate to reach to anyone, even if you don't know that person. I do highly recommend people to keep up by reaching out, introducing yourself. You never know, maybe somebody will help you. Sometimes it's all about who you know.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in my industry right now is that it's highly competitive, and the AI is coming so fast to our fields, and we need to keep up with it. We need to train ourselves for the new era using the AI, and it's becoming like a reality check for us. We need to accept having AI as part of your daily routine work. I have to admit, I like it because it shortens your time, for sure.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
At work, honesty and integrity are very important to me. I remember that our target at the end of the day is the patient, and we have to always work hard to get the best data we can get to help patients, so integrity is very important for me at work. The same applies for my family, but the family is a bit different. Cohesiveness is very important, and being honest with each other, and we have an open dialogue between my kids, my husband, and myself is very important.
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